CHICAGO—Many retailers are eager to secure spaces in the new Addison & Clark mixed-use center currently under construction just across the street from Wrigley Field, and the developers have just selected another pair to occupy portions of its 150,000 square feet of retail space.

Officials from the joint venture of Chicago-based M&R Development and Bucksbaum Retail Properties LLC say Los Angeles-based Lucky Strike Entertainment will open its second Chicago location at Addison & Clark, while New York-based Shake Shack, Inc. has chosen it for its fourth Chicago-area restaurant.

These two new leases come on the heels of CMX, a worldwide cinema chain, announcing plans earlier this year for a 10-screen movie theater at Addison & Clark. The eight-story transit-oriented development will also include 148 luxury apartments.

“We always thought a theater made sense,” John Bucksbaum, chief executive officer of Bucksbaum Retail Properties, tells GlobeSt.com, chiefly because it would serve throughout the year both the dense population surrounding the ballpark and neighborhood's many weekend visitors. “The baseball team draws around 3.2 million people during the season, and that is a fantastic base. But there are also about 100,000 people within a few miles that are there year-round. We want retailers that will capture a piece of all of that.”

“We had multiple theater chains that actually approached us when we announced the project,” he adds. Likewise, the developers will have choices when it comes to filling up the remaining spaces. And since “there already is a lot of entertainment here, beginning with the Cubs,” they want retailers that will bring in something unique.

Lucky Strike Entertainment, for example, is known as a bowling alley, but here it will also offer live music, as well as a chef-driven menu, and private and semi-private function spaces. It will occupy about 30,000 square feet on the second floor of the complex. Shake Shack, Inc., which has two downtown locations and one in the suburbs, will occupy 3,500 square feet.

The Addison & Clark development has roughly 85,000 square feet of retail space left. But those spaces will probably not be available for long. “There are a number of discussions and negotiations underway,” says Bucksbaum.

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Addison & Clark Mixed-Use Development Gets Two New Tenants

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