Forest City Certifies $200M Promenade for LEED

BOLINGBROOK, IL-Forest City Enterprises recently received LEED certification for its open-air, mixed-use Promenade Bolingbrook development. Site work is expected to start for the project’s second phase this summer, which will include two hotels and a 600,000-sf power center at the site at Interstate 355 south of Boughton Road. The estimated cost of the completed project is approximately $200 million, says Valerie Westley, development director for Forest City.

Forest City made sustainability a core value three to four years ago and decided to seek LEED certification on the project, even though plans were already completed and construction had already begun, Westley says. Some of the things the company did to qualify for LEED certification included using local materials and landscaping, energy efficient mechanical systems, recycling on the site during the project and a recycling program in place at the center, she says.

The center is 93% occupied, including the anchors, and 86% occupied excluding the anchors, Westley says. Retailers include Bass Pro Shops, Coach, H&M, Yankee Candle, Sunglasses Hut and Macy’s. The asking lease rate is between $34 and $44 per sf, net.The asking lease rate for the approximate 40,000 sf of office space at the center is $30 per sf net. The office space is vacant after the Sun Times News Group backed out of a deal to lease the space, she says. A 333,000-sf Ikea store and a 46,000-sf LA Fitness are also at the site.

The second phase will include a 600,000-sf power center, a limited service hotel geared to business travelers with a 150 rooms and an additional 150-room hotel with a conference center. The retail is expected to open in the fall 2009. The power center will have a “very large national general merchandise retailer similar to Wal-Mart or Target,” she says. Forest City has contracts signed with a hotel chain for the two properties but cannot disclose the hotels yet, she says. Construction could begin in the fall on the hotel geared towards business travelers and may open in fall 2009, Westley says.