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Chicago suburb plans new downtown

By Catherine Wheatley

Catherine Wheatley is a free-lance writer based in New York.

EVANSTON, Ill.--A decade-long decline of this Chicago suburb's downtown was capped by the 1995 expansion of Old Orchard Mall in nearby Skokie, Ill. Ironically, a former mall developer, Arthur J. Hill, is charged with bringing this community back to life.

"Evanston's downtown was the shopping draw for the North Shore in the 1950s but, like any urban center, new shopping came along and changed that," said Denis Marino, the city's assistant director of planning.

Local stores closed, as did a downtown Sears, Roebuck and Co. Eventually, customers stopped shopping the downtown during the evenings and weekends.

The 1.8 million-square-foot Old Orchard has captured much of the downtown area's trade. The mall, owned by Chicago-based Urban Retail Properties Co., has around 100 stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshall Field's, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.

To combat the decline, Evanston City Council sought a joint venture partner to build a retail and entertainment complex dubbed Church Street Plaza.

Mr. Hill, the former chief of Homart Development Co. (the former mall development arm of Sears, acquired by General Growth Properties in 1996) and now chairman of his own real estate company, insists that his latest project will be the city's answer.

"Evanston does not want glitz: It wants a new center that will fit in with the existing fabric like threads in a tapestry," he said.

Arthur Hill & Co., the company which Mr. Hill founded after leaving Homart, was among three other developers, including the John Buck Co. (partnered by AMC Entertainment), vying to win the contract to build the $75 million Church Street Plaza project. The mixed retail, entertainment and hotel complex is slated for a site close to Northwestern University in downtown Evanston.

The city, which has a population of 85,000, lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, about a 30-minute drive from Chicago.

"After 25 years on the national circuit, it's good to be involved in a signature development in the Greater Chicago area," said Mr. Hill, a native of the region, whose other projects include the 350,000-square-foot Denver Pavilions.

Church Street Plaza will include 140,000 square feet of retail, two cinemas totaling 75,000 square feet, a 180-room hotel with conference facilities, a performing arts theater and a 1,000-space car park. The design team, California-based ELS/Elbasani & Logan Architects, is aiming for a traditional open-air street environment with a neighborhood feel.

Neither the council nor Arthur Hill & Co. would disclose details of the agreement, but according to local press reports the development company will put around $55 million into the project, and it has asked the city to fund the remaining $20 million.

The city will benefit from the project, according to Mr. Marino, through property taxes, sales taxes and parking revenues. "The municipality gets 1.25% in sales tax so it's in our interests to encourage more shops."

The complex will be built on a 20-acre triangular site which is part of the Northwestern University-Evanston Research Park. The land's existing buildings include a former Consolidated Edison substation on the northern end, and a car park. Two privately owned blocks must still be acquired before the site assembly is complete. Initially, plans called for the development to extend to the park, but these were curtailed in favor of a more community-oriented development.

Groundbreaking is set for March next year, according to Mr. Hill, with completion 15 months after that. Meanwhile, company and city officials are trying to resolve concerns about increased traffic the project would generate along nearby roads, including Monroe Street and Church Street. Some councilors also fear that local streets will become clogged with parked cars. The developer is being asked to build a new 25,000-square-foot space for the Levy Senior Center, which is being displaced by the plan.

Arthur Hill & Co. has appointed Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Mid-America Real Estate Corp. to seek tenants for the retail element, to consist of a mixture of specialty shops, restaurants and cafes. Arthur Hill also hopes to attract larger stores, which do not have existing operations in Evanston, to occupy units of between 15,000 square feet and 25,000 square feet. However, there are no plans for a department store anchor. Mr. Hill did not identify prospective tenants and said no leases have yet been signed.

"We are aiming for a feel like the area around Harvard" University, in Cambridge, Mass., he explained. "We want a good combination of retail and restaurants to complement the nearby offices."

The developer is in talks with three national hotel chains to operate the proposed hotel. While Mr. Hill did not name them, local press reports say Marriott is among the front-runners. The hotel company has just upgraded its proposal from a Residence Inn to a Courtyard Inn, a brand which carries the required conference facilities, according to Marriott. Holiday Inn already has a presence in the town. Evanston's other hotel is the Omni Orrington.

Arthur Hill & Co. has signed deals with General Cinema to operate a 10- or 12-screen multiplex showing mainstream Hollywood films, and with Robert Redford's Sundance Group to run a six- or seven-screen cinema showcasing independent and art house films.

The final piece in the jigsaw puzzle is a performing arts theater which will be sponsored by private donations.

Mr. Hill, who has worked on many projects during his career, claims Church Street Plaza is special. "This is an opportunity to add a new dimension to downtown Evanston," he said. "We want to take an area that's presently fallow and bring to it some new vitality."