Holiday Inn Express is coming to Chesterton’s Coffee Creek

A Michigan developer is going forward with plans to build a Holiday Inn Express within the Coffee Creek Center in Chesterton.

Mark O’Dell, Chesterton’s Town Engineer/Building Superintendent, announced during Monday’s Town Council meeting that the project has been revived.

Chesterton Lodging LLC of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, approached the town a few years ago about building within the Coffee Creek Center development, but didn’t follow through. That was in the aftermath of the pandemic, which hurt the hotel/motel industry.

“They’re back. They’ve actually submitted everything, so we’ll start reviewing that project. Out of the blue, they dropped everything off,” O’Dell said.

Chesterton’s Building Department will soon begin a review of a civil site package and building permit application for the Holiday Inn Express.

The hotel is proposed to be located immediately north of AJ’s Pizza, on the opposite side of Blackwell Lane and sandwiched between Matson Drive to the west and Village Point to the east.

Access points to the hotel will be located off Blackwell Lane from the south and Jack Heisey Drive from the north.

The developer’s plans call for a four-story hotel with 105 rooms.

That would be within the regulations of the planned unit development (PUD) ordinance, which sets the rules within the Coffee Creek Center. The PUD permits five-story structures with a maximum height of 70 feet, said Kevin Nevers, public affairs liaison for the town of Chesterton.

The town’s Advisory Plan Commission and Town Council won’t be reviewing the project because the PUD is in place. However, if the developer wants a variance from what the PUD allows, they would have to go before the Advisory Plan Commission, Nevers said.

Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.