LINCOLNWOOD—The infamous Purple Hotel is finally getting town down after sitting vacant since its closure in 2007. And North Capital Group, the site's developer, along with its joint-venture partners, Urban Retail Properties and First Hospitality Group, unveiled their plan, called “The Shoppes At Lincoln Pointe,” to Lincolnwood officials during Tuesday's Plan Commission Workshop.

“There's something for everyone in these development plans,” said Neal Stein, project lead and principal with North Capital. “It's a win-win for the village, its residents, and others along the North Shore and throughout the area.”

The 11-acre site will undergo a significant transformation into a home for retail businesses, restaurants, professional offices and a hotel, all surrounding a public gathering place designed like a town square.

“Without a doubt, the Lincoln-Touhy site is among the most desirable developments in the Chicago area,” said Lincolnwood Mayor Jerry Turry. “We're bullish that the mixed-use proposal will bring new life to a site that has been idled for way too long. Once completed, we expect that the project will spur more economic development in our community.”

“We have designed a pedestrian-friendly, people scaled mixed-use development that will provide a unique sense of place at the heavily trafficked intersection of Lincoln and Touhy avenues,” said Joe Antunovich, principal of the project architect, Chicago-based Antunovich Associates. “The development will provide a welcoming face to shoppers and visitors with ample parking hidden from view in below-level garages or convenient well-lit parking decks. The plan creates a new downtown for the Village of Lincolnwood, a highly functional and accessible collection of shops, restaurants, a grocer and a hotel that is reminiscent of an older time and place, in the true spirit of new-urbanism.”

The partners expect construction to last about two years.