Furthermore, a reader sent us this earlier in the week:
Was at the Panera on Canal/Roosevelt overlooking the area being torn down when a woman began asking me if I lived nearby, how busy was it at lunch time and what businesses were in the area... I answered all fairly confidently and then asked her about the interesting line of questioning to which she responded she was from Potbelly and they were looking at opening across the street (where the demolition is taking place).
She then sat down with a colleague and one other person (who I take to be a developer) for a discussion about the development. The developer guy began rattling off a list of interested parties as well as those who had signed on and I was able to overhear a handful... They included Banana Republic Outlet, Ulta 3, Chick Fil-a, Container Store, Ross, Pier 1, Dicks Sporting Goods, REI and Butcher Burger...
Obviously I have no way to confirm this, I'm not in development or work for any of the companies but since I overheard it I thought I'd pass it along to you all to see if you could dig anything up. If all, or even some, of the list are true it could be quite a development for the Roosevelt shopping corridor especially when added to the businesses going in over by Icon.If this is true, it would be pretty exciting. Regardless, officially the status of the project still remains unclear. Does anyone know anything about this?
For those interested, here is arendering of the new proposed development coming to this space:
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| Image from Chicago Real Estate Daily |
nice, add Apple and roosevlet collection stores plus new Costco and we have the makings to compete very well with any other shopping are in the state.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting list of potential retailers. I wonder why they were all uninterested in Roosevelt Collection.
ReplyDeleteThis is bizarre considering there is so much empty retail & residential in such close proximity, but long term it can only be good for the area.
ReplyDeleteIf all of those are interested in that location as opposed to roosevelt collection, in may mean a couple of things:
ReplyDelete1. Roosevelt collection already secured leases from other interested parties and they couldn't get in there
2.Lease/Purchase terms in a new property were more attractive than Roosevelt Collection, including building spaces to specs.
3. Location at Roosevelt and Canal was deemed to be more attractive in terms of things like parking, foot traffic, etc.
For my money, I would suspect that it is a combination of these three; however, if Roosevelt collection already had a lot of people lined up for the fall, then the space they would have to offer would be quite limited.
Good analysis TS. My take on this and your comment are:
ReplyDelete1. If parking stays free at R.C., I don't see how it's not more attractive than this Canal development. Canal has metered street parking, so unless this development includes a free underground garage, getting to this development by car will be a costly proposition.
2. Several of these retailers sound like they require a large space, ala Dick's Sporting Goods and Container Store. If large tenants like Sports Authority already have signed at R.C., then there may not be an appropriate space at R.C. When do we get to see a confirmed list from the R.C. developers on who is coming?
3. I'm not an architect or developer either, but how much can a space be "built to spec"? Don't you think that a retail space is built with as little beams and blockages as possible from the start?
4. I think an intangible aspect could be visibility. At R.C., the only real visibility will be for the several stores near Roosevelt Road itself. IF Apple has indeed signed at R.C., I imagine that they'll take one of those two end cap locations. Imagine driving on Roosevelt and seeing the glowing Apple store and logo with all their shiny gizmos and gadgets starring back at you. At Canal, it appears from that rendering that most retail outlets will have street frontage, and thus much greater visibility.
Lets hope that come Black Friday or the new year, we have AT LEAST a list of tenants who'll be open in no time flat.
In most situations the build out costs are mostly if not entirley on the developer. I dont have any inside info on this but its been my belief from the start that RC was trying to stick the costs with the tenants. As far as location neither complex has good foot traffic. Being that RC is on a major road I believe it is a better location and will draw people in like a regular shopping mall. The movie theater is also an asset for potential tenants as it brings people into the complex. I do find it unlikely that this new project would be put into action now without the people behind it knowing retail is filling up in the area. My guess RC is full and they just havent announced it publicly. There must be a lot of private financing going into this new project as its still unlikely to get a large percentage financed by a bank these days so im guessing they know what they are doing. Regardless its good for the neighborhood when a large investment is being made.
ReplyDeleteThis is great news for such a depressing part of the city. I'm hoping this will push out some of the less desirable stores on Roosevelt and bring in some more "foot traffic" generating stores.
ReplyDeleteI hope these stores come to the area, period:
ReplyDelete1. Container Store
2. Kohls
3. CB2 or Crate and Barrel Warehouse
4. Carson Pirie Scott (even w/o the houseware items)