Des Plaines reviews Five Corners retail plan
A largely industrial area near the Des Plaines downtown could house a SuperTarget along with smaller stores selling office supplies, shoes, clothes or electronics.
These were the preliminary plans unveiled Thursday night at a community meeting hosted by consultants hired to draft a master plan for the city's 70-acre Five Corners taxing district. Planners showed three concepts of how a more than 20-acre area bound by River, Rand and Golf roads could be redeveloped.
During the two-hour meeting, residents and business owners heard from the consultant team on ideas for the northern part of the expansive redevelopment area. They also had the chance to raise questions.
Of the up to 315,000 square feet of new stores and restaurants, the anchor would be a big-box discount department store between 100,000 and 200,000 square feet. One option showed a town-center-type development.
"We're trying to put a puzzle together to show a picture of 'what if,'" said John LaMotte, an owner of Chicago-based The Lakota Group.
Names floated Thursday included SuperTarget, Kohl's and Wal-Mart, although city officials say there are no specific developers lined up yet for the project and there is no property yet acquired for the massive development. One business owner has been trying to sell to the city but the city council earlier this month narrowly rejected purchasing his business. His request could be reconsidered as early as Monday's council meeting.
Business owners and residents filled a meeting room at a park district golf center near the area. Discussion turned somewhat contentious when one business owner in the front row shouted at the consultant, asking him to talk about the existing businesses in the Five Corners area.
Trish Wojtun criticized Stephen Friedman, president of Chicago-based S.B. Friedman & Co., and other consultants for smiling and laughing while business owners are worried about what to do.
"In other words, we don't count," she said.
Friedman said they were holding the meeting to discuss ideas for the property.
Michael Conlan, Des Plaines' community and economic development director, invited business owners to meet with him about their options after Thursday's meeting. When asked to clarify, city officials said it wasn't an offer to ask the city to buy their property.
Other issues raised included questions about how a major retail development would thrive when traffic would be obstructed by two railroad crossings. With the economic downturn, residents also wondered whether a large shopping area would be successful especially in light of existing store vacancies at the nearby downtown Metropolitan Square development.