Besides being at the intersection of two major thoroughfares,the site is near the Schaumburg Convention Center, O'HareInternational Airport and the 2.6-million-sf Woodfield Mall. "Thevisibility from the two highways alone makes it prime land forretail development," Borzak says. "We believe this is really one ofthe premier sites in the Chicago area, perhaps in the Midwest, withthe highway availability and also the proximity to O'Hare." TwelveOaks at Woodfield Apartments, 4700 Arbor Dr., occupies the majorityof the space. Michael Sparks, based here, is the seller of theapartment complex and is being represented in the sales transactionby Bill Montana and Ralph DePasquale, both with the Chicago officeof Hendricks & Partners. There is also a shopping center andvacant car wash on the site.

Pine Tree is partnering with Draper and Kramer because of theproperty and financial services company's residential experience inthat they "manage thousands of units in the Chicago area," he says.The joint venture is planning a lifestyle center concept, Borzaksays. The center will be "more pedestrian friendly" where a personcan "take a walk, buy a cup of coffee and sit on the sidewalk," hesays. The project is expected to have between 400,000 sf and500,000 sf of retail, 500 to 1,000 residential rental units and twohotels. The retail is expected to have at least two anchor tenants."We think that, because the visibility is so strong on the twohighways, that retailers would be able to have excellentvisibility…[attracting] someone new to Chicagoland or the northwestsuburbs," he says.

There will likely be a second residential phase, with possibly asenior residential community, and additional commercial space, suchas medical office or office space, he says. The joint venture hopesto start construction in 2009, with the first phase of the projectcompleted in 2010 or 2011. The first phase would likely include theretail, a portion of the residential and the hotels, in addition tosome entertainment and restaurants, he says.