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Learn MoreA 40,000-square-foot Chicago Athletic Clubs gym will be the largest tenant in the proposed boutique Sheraton hotel across the street from Wrigley Field, Cubs ownership announced today.
The locally owned health club chain will invest $5 million and lease two floors of the hotel development, which the Ricketts family announced in January as a joint effort with Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
That project, of course, still relies on the Cubs and the city reaching an agreement on how to resolve certain "restrictions and outside business interests blocking the Cubs from generating revenue being realized by every other team in pro sports," as the Rickettses said last month in a statement.
The $500 million of renovations to Wrigley Field over the next five years, the team says, will move forward only if those issues — including its turbulent relationship with the Wrigleyville Rooftop Association — are resolved.
“Renovating Wrigley Field, creating a plaza for fans and neighbors, developing a boutique hotel including a Chicago Athletic Club, will deliver an additional $94 million annual economic impact on top of the nearly $640 million Wrigley Field and the Cubs produce today for our city and state,” Tom Ricketts said in the release. "All of this can happen if we can reach a common-sense solution that allows us to run our business.”
Mr. Ricketts says the hotel and health club would create 2,000 jobs and generate a total of $19 million in annual tax revenue for the city, state and county.
The Chicago Athletic Club location would feature cardio and weight-training equipment, a 25-meter swimming pool, a golf immersion program, a batting cage and specialized fitness classes, according to a news release.
The fitness chain, which has six locations in the Chicago area, also would expand its sponsorship deal with the Cubs as a part of the deal, staging "outdoor activities and programs" in the Cubs' proposed plaza adjacent to the stadium.
The Ricketts family paid $20 million in December 2011 for the 1-acre lot on which the proposed hotel will be built.
In addition to the CAC health club, the development also will have to incorporate a McDonald's location, per an agreement with the restaurant that one would be included in any future development at the site.
From Danny Ecker on ChicagoBusiness.com. Also check out the article at this link.
Follow Danny on Twitter at @DannyEcker