The Biz Week That Was: Bears stadium indecision, data centers talk, and a new Ikea store
Bears stadium legislation advances in Indiana as Illinois hearing abruptly canceled
An Indiana House committee advanced legislation Thursday that would support a new Bears stadium in Hammond, just as a scheduled hearing on competing Illinois legislation that would bring them to Arlington Heights was abruptly canceled. Northwest suburban officials were expected to testify in Springfield on behalf of a bill that would pave the way to a stadium at the former Arlington Park racetrack. Instead, that scene was playing out across state lines at Indiana’s state capitol.
Hoffman Estates mayor talks of data centers, new search for hardware store in annual address
Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod fielded questions about data centers, interactions with federal immigration agents and the renewed search for a hardware store during his annual update before the chamber of commerce Thursday. His update on Compass Datacenters’ $10 billion replacement of the former Sears campus and the progress on Microsoft’s own $500 million data center campus further east sparked questions about the much-discussed effects of such developments.
Ikea’s third Illinois location will be at Gurnee Mills
Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea made its long-rumored move to the North suburbs official Tuesday, announcing plans to open a new store at Gurnee Mills. The 66,000-square-foot store — smaller than the massive full-size stores in Schaumburg and Bolingbrook — will open this fall in a portion of the former Sears Grand Store at the Gurnee shopping center, a mall official confirmed Tuesday.
More row homes coming to downtown Naperville
Naperville City Council members have unanimously approved plans for high-end row homes at the northern edge of the downtown. M/I Homes intends to build 11 owner-occupied units at the northwest corner of Main Street and Benton Avenue.
PGA Tour Superstore coming to Northbrook
Georgia-based PGA Tour Superstore has signed a lease for a new 30,000-square-foot store in Northbrook. Located at 1072 Willow Road in the Willow Festival Shopping Center, the Northbrook store will be a new clubhouse for the North Shore and greater Chicago area with an immersive retail and practice environment designed for players of all skill levels.
Speakeasy-inspired event space opening in Wauconda
Unless you know where you’re going and are looking for it, Cellar 109, a new event space coming to downtown Wauconda, isn't the easiest to find. But that's part of the mystique for a speakeasy-inspired, multiuse venue at 109 S. Main St. “Suite B” is actually the basement, accessible by going down a few steps from the sidewalk and through a narrow passage between two buildings to an nondescript door.
Top Shelf Ice Arena in Gurnee snares $50K business grant
In what has become a continuing partnership, Top Shelf Ice Arena at Gurnee Mills will receive a $50,000 village contribution to reconfigure the interior entrance into an NHL-themed retail space. As proposed, the $180,000 project would reconfigure and open the interior entrance of mall to the ice arena.