Shoppers who favor outlet malls soon will have a much shorter drive if a developer’s plans come to fruition.
A new outlet mall is being proposed in New Lenox for a nearly 100-acre site near the new Silver Cross Hospital. Jeff Middlebrook, of Center Creek Development LLC, would like to break ground in August on the site at the northwest corner of Route 6 and Silver Cross Boulevard.
Middlebrook said the project could create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the village in sales tax revenue.
“To say we’re excited is an understatement,” Mayor Tim Baldermann said Tuesday.
Shoppers who now head for outlet malls in Aurora, Gurnee or Michigan City, Ind., also stand to benefit in time and gas savings.
While many details have yet to be worked out, Middlebrook said he plans to submit his plans to village officials in the next several weeks. He previously worked on the Walmart/Menards project on Route 30 in New Lenox.
A previous proposal by a different developer to build an outdoor mall, but not an outlet mall, about a half-mile away fell victim to the economy. Another shopping center, Cedar Crossings mall at Route 6 and Cedar Road, could begin the first phase of construction in the spring.
Center Creek Development’s project, the Spring Creek Outlets of Chicago, would be similar to the Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora, with 275,000 square feet of retail space, Middlebrook said.
“The southwest suburbs need a convenient shopping location,” he said.
While the retail market has been in what he called a “very large lull,” Middlebrook said value-driven segments of the industry are on the upswing.
“It’s because of the economy that we can do this,” he said, pointing to a “pro-business community,” relatively inexpensive land and deflated costs for construction materials.
Middlebrook said he has nine letters of intent from would-be tenants, but he won’t reveal any names yet.
Development
The location, near two major interstates — Interstate 355 and Interstate 80 — will make the mall a regional destination, Middlebrook said, along with the new Silver Cross Hospital, nearby Chicagoland Speedway and the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
The plan includes 10 acres of senior housing on the north end of the site, with hotels, restaurants, medical office buildings and other “interstate-friendly uses,” he said.
The development would have a “racetrack design,” he said, with stores at the center, surrounded by parking and a road around the perimeter.
When fully built out in phases over five to seven years, there would be 550,000 square feet of commercial, retail and office space, which Middlebrook estimated would generate $234 million in sales tax revenue and 2,800 permanent jobs.
“In any economy, even in the best of times, we’d be excited about this,” Baldermann said. “But in this economy, it’s fantastic news. That whole corner is doing exactly what we thought.”
The outlet mall would be built in the project’s first phase and could open within a year, about the same time as the new hospital, if all goes well, Baldermann said.
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