CHICAGO—The mood among retail professionals at the latest Chicago Deal Making conference, held yesterday and today at Navy Pier by the International Council of Shopping Centers, has been quite upbeat.
“People are starting to feel like we've returned to the days before the recession,” Larry Kilduff, JLL's senior vice president, retail market lead, Midwest, tells GlobeSt.com. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction, including rental rates, leasing, development and acquisitions, and for the first time in years, it's happening across the board. “There is a sense of pent-up demand.” Except for high street locations and in core markets, “it's been hard to see that energy until now.”
Kilduff adds that Structured Development Corp.'s New City project at North and Clybourn in Chicago's Lincoln Park could become a milestone for retail developers. The mixed-use project will have its grand opening at the end of this month, and because much of the new development so far in the recovery has been on the small side, the massive, $260 million New City stands out, and investors will watch its progress very carefully.
“I suspect there will be more of them,” he says, once observers note the tenant roster, which includes Mariano's and Dick's Sporting Goods, and see sales figures. “It's a statement development,” and if it succeeds, as Kilduff believes it will, New City and its mixture of shopping, residential, dining and other amenities will further draw developers and investors away from the mall concept. “That platform just doesn't satisfy people any more.”
And the impact of New City should be felt across the whole region, not just Chicago or its metro area. Many developers will probably be eager to bring the New City concept anywhere they can find populations with money to spend, although most do seem to be focusing more attention on urban, rather than suburban areas, Kilduff says.
In short, after gauging the attitudes of conference participants, the retail world “feels like its on the rise and everyone's on board.”
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