Rosemont to pay $1 million more for mall garage
Rosemont will pay an extra $1 million for the construction of a parking garage attached to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago as a result of soil problems there, officials said.
The village contribution for the 7-story garage has increased from $35 million to $36 million - an extra payment that arose when mall management firm Macerich was doing end financing for the project.
"We tried to weasel our way out of it, but we couldn't," said Mayor Brad Stephens, who noted that the soil issues were identified at the start of construction.
Macerich and AWE Talisman, the mall developer, also will pay an extra $1 million to account for the soil issues. The firms originally contributed $10 million for the village-owned garage, which will be deeded over to the developer when the area's tax increment financing district expires in 2034.
Scott Nelson, Macerich's vice president of development, said officials originally didn't know how much the soil problems would cost to address but were hopeful they'd be able to realize cost savings as construction of the mall progressed.
But that wasn't the case, he said.
"At the very beginning of construction as we started drilling for the foundation for the garage and mall, we ran into impediments, meaning things like former foundations from pre-existing buildings, steel concrete, some soil that wasn't stable enough to be built on - all things that you might run into in an infill location," Nelson said. "We recognized early on we needed to deal with it in conjunction with the village of Rosemont."
Macerich and AWE Talisman spent $230 million to build the 530,000-square-foot, two-story mall and pay for upgrades to the attached garage, including red and green lights above each space indicating if spots are occupied.
The village spent more than $60 million to build the garage, make off-site improvements and help build the Balmoral Avenue off-ramp at the Tri-State Tollway to provide access. The mall opened in August 2013.