BLOOMINGTON - An extended stay hotel, a drugstore and a variety of other businesses could replace the former Stahly Truck City at Veterans Parkway and Mercer Avenue.

Parkway Partners-One, a group of four investors that includes John Mann, president of Hospitality Specialists of Jacksonville, has purchased the 20 acres for $6.1 million. Ground could be broken for the project as soon as October, said developer Todd Raufeisen of Raufeisen Development of Rock Island.

Bloomington Planning Commission has recommended the project' preliminary plan and it is expected to go before the Bloomington City Council on Sept. 8.

"We were attracted to the property because of Veterans Parkway and State Farm," said Raufeisen. "Retail follows people."

The parcel is the last major piece of undeveloped land along Veterans Parkway, said Mark Huber, director of planning and code enforcement in Bloomington.

Raufeisen, who is a partner with Mann, said the two were looking for a location in the Twin Cities to build a Marriott extended stay hotel. Hospitality Specialists is a hotel development and management company.

The preliminary plan shows a four-story, 100-room hotel at Ireland Grove Road and State Farm-owned Loop Drive.

Raufeisen said Parkway Partners also has a contract with a drug store to locate at the corner of Veterans and Mercer. He would not reveal the name.

That plan - as well as the entire development - hinges on a proposal by Parkway Partners to build a private road within the development between Veterans and Ireland Grove Road. Two other roads would come into the development form Ireland Grove Road, according to the plan.

Bloomington engineer Doug Grovesteen said there is a concern by the city and the Illinois Department of Transportation that traffic wanting to turn left off Mercer into the development could back up during rush hour and other peak traffic times.

IDOT suggested the private street could be a right-in and right-out at those times.

But Raufeisen said that idea would kill not only the contract with the drugstore but the entire project.

"The value of access would basically be non-existent," he said.

Grovesteen said he is keeping an open mind in the matter and the city is conducting traffic counts to determine if adding a stop light at Ireland Grove Road and Mercer would create enough of a gap in traffic that vehicles could make the left turn in and out of the development.

He hopes to have the information available for the council meeting.

Parkway Partners also needs approval from State Farm to have the planned road extend to Loop Road, which is owned by State Farm. An alternative would be for the road to exit onto one of the two extensions off Ireland Grove Road.

Raufeisen said the development would include bike paths and other quality of life amenities including wide sidewalks and benches. Huber likened the concept to the Shoppes at College Hills in Normal.