NAPERVILLE, IL-Macy's Inc is moving its furniture outlet center from Chicago to the Westridge Court Shopping Center, 2781 Aurora Ave. Macy's signed a lease for 50,000 sf in the shopping center.

The term for the lease was not disclosed except that it was “long-term,” according to Joe Herron, associate broker for Mid-America Real Estate Corp. Herron and Kevin McLoughlin, also with Mid-America, represented Macy's in the lease transaction. Australia-based Centro Properties, which owns the shopping center, was represented by Brad Ratajczak, a leasing representative with Centro.

The furniture outlet store will be located in a space that has been vacant for more than four years and had been previously occupied by a showroom for Spiegel Catalog. Macy's plans to open on about Nov. 15 and will be one of the anchor tenants of the 453,666-sf power center. The shopping center is currently about 80% to 85% leased, Herron says. Other tenants include Grand Mart, Linens 'N Things, Nova 8 Theatres, Borders Brooks, Old Navy and Marshall's. The asking lease rate for retail space in the area between 30,000 sf and 50,000 sf is “in the low-teens,” net, Herron says.

The site in Naperville was chosen for several reasons such as the central location in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical area, the “relatively high incomes” of the Naperville area and the proximity to I-88 which links the suburbs to Chicago, Herron says. Additionally, “the Southwest suburbs have phenomenal housing growth,” he says. Macy's had been considering leasing space at Yorkshire Plaza in Aurora, IL but chose the Naperville location because it had “better visibility and co-tenancy,” he says.

Macy's currently has a furniture outlet at its distribution center located at 4000 W. Diversey Ave. in Chicago, which had been used by Marshall Fields before Macy's acquired May department Stores in 2005. The Chicago distribution facility is a six-story, 1.5-million-sf facility. Macy's acquired a newly constructed 850,000-sf, single-story facility at 600 Mid Point Rd., Minooka, IL from Rosemont, IL-based Opus North Corp. in August, as reported by GlobeSt.com. The acquisition price for the new distribution center was not disclosed but Macy's will invest $50 million for the center, which includes the acquisition costs of the building and the 48.6-acre parcel of land it is located on in addition to the cost of equipment for the new facility. Macy's will close its distribution operations in spring 2008 after the new facility is operation.