Kerasotes Signs on at 600,000-SF Development

OAK BROOK, IL-Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres has signed on to open at the 600,000-sf Clearwater mixed-use development being developed by Chicago-based John Buck Co. and San Francisco-based McMorgan & Co. The 29-acre development, at the intersection of 22nd Street and York Road, will also have an aloft Hotel, about 130,000 sf of retail and restaurant space, office space and a condominium building. An estimated cost for the project was not disclosed.

Kerasotes will open a 14-screen movie theater adjacent to an office building already constructed at 2001 York Rd. Construction on the 100,000-sf movie theater facility is expected to begin in the first half of next year, pending approval by the village of Oak Brook. The theater is expected to open in the first half of 2009. John Buck Co. vice president Matt Means said Kerasotes has a “long-term lease” but would not disclose further details.

A 139-room aloft Hotel, part of Starwoods Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.’s W Hotels brand is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009. Construction on the approximately 70,000 sf hotel is expected to begin next quarter with demolition expected to begin soon an existing office and warehouse building, Means says.

The approximate 150,000-sf condominium building will be 13 stories and have 77 units. The units will vary in size and be approximately between 1,800 sf and 1,900 sf. The condominiums are expected to be available for occupancy by the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010. Sales prices for the units are not being disclosed until a sales office opens in January, says John Buck Co. senior vice president Susan Hammersley. The development will have “both national and local retailers” but Hammersley said she could not disclose retailers at this time or asking lease rates.

There will also be a 50,000-sf health club but Means said they could not yet disclose the name of the company. The retail is expected to open in the late summer or fall of 2009.

An 184,000-sf, five-story office building constructed by John Buck Co. in 2000 at 2001 York Rd. and an existing Class B 120,000-sf three-story office building are also part of the development. The 184,000-sf office building is 100% leased, with the major tenant being Comcast, and the 120,000-sf building is more than 90% leased, Hammersley says.

Asking lease rates were not disclosed. A 150,000-sf office building may also be constructed at the development, Means says. John Buck Co. acquired the property about 10 years ago and initially had plans for a one-million-sf office park at the site but “the dynamics of the office market has changed,” Hammersley says. The site was chosen because “it is considered the premier suburb to do business in” and the location has a daytime population of 100,000 people, she says. The development is also near Oakbrook Center and is near all of the major express ways including Interstates 294, 290 and 88.