(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

MUNSTER, IN-Urban Retail Properties is teaming with developer/owner Simborg Commercial Real Estate to build Munster Town Center, a mixed-use project that will feature 600,000 sf of retail and 50,000 sf of office space. The companies plan to complete the project, which Simborg will own, in late 2008.

Currently on the Munster Town Center site is the Lake Business Center, a 72-acre industrial and office park with existing buildings that need to be removed. "I would say we'll see some things happening on the site later this year," Steven Warsaw, the president of Urban's leasing division, tells GlobeSt.com.

The project's retail component will have a town-center atmosphere, and the developers are considering a theater, department stores and service retailers as anchors, Warsaw says. Residents in the area are currently traveling to Oakbrook or Orland Park, IL to do their shopping, he says. The 50,000-sf office space is being considered for medical office leasing.

Chicago-based Urban leasing and managing Branson (MO) Landing, a $420-million, mixed-use center that will feature a Bass Pro Shop as its anchor tenant. The firm has also received preliminary approval for Providence Town Center a 505,092-sf, open-air project in Collegeville, PA, on which it is a development consultant.

"The addition of Munster Town Center to our development and management portfolio is an important step for Urban as we continue to aggressively grow our core business," said Ross Glickman, chief executive officer of Urban, in a statement.

Simborg, based in Homewood, IL, has developed about 100 industrial and office buildings, mostly in Illinois and Indiana. The firm was founded by Sheldon Simborg about 30 years ago.

Instant Insights /

Urban Retail JV Building 650,000-SF Town Center

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