The development will be constructed in two phases with work onthe first phase beginning at the end of the month. The first phasewill include site work, a medical office building and some retailwhich is expected to open in the third quarter of next year, Doylesays. The Prairie Pointe Medical Office Center will be a four-storybuilding with 66,000 sf. The joint venture decided to construct amedical office building as opposed to "a typical office buildingwhere workers come in the day and that is it," Doyle says."Whereas, a medical building, physicians could see four to eightpatients per day." The medical office draws "a lot of traffic" tothe development and supports the retail, he says. In addition,medical office tenants tend to be longstanding tenants who providesome stability to the rent rolls, a spokeswoman says.

There will be between 70,000 sf and 80,000 sf of retail in thefirst phase with a mixture of both inline space and a "medium-sizebox retailer," he says. Construction on the second phase of thedevelopment is expected to begin next spring and open in the firstor second quarter of 2009. The second phase will include threerestaurants of about 8,000 sf to 12,000 sf each and a hotel, Doylesays. The hotel will probably be between 70,000 sf and 90,000 sfwith between 130 and 160 rooms, he tells GlobeSt.com.

The joint venture was drawn to the site, in part, by thelocation of the corporate headquarters of Sears Holding Corp.,American Honda Motor Co. Inc., Mary Kay, Serta International,Siemens Medical Solutions and Silesia Flavors Inc. But, they werealso interested in the parcel because of the "repositioning" of thebusiness park that has occurred by Sears and the Village of HoffmanStates, such as the opening of the 11,000-seat Sears Centre Arenaand the recent announcement of the construction of a Cabela's. "Inthe last five years or so, they have really gone afterentertainment and retail," he says. "That really caught ourattention two years ago."