Second mall proposed in Yorkville

July 7, 2007

By Heather Gillers, Beacon News Staff Writer

YORKVILLE -- A 1-million-square-foot shopping center could open by late 2008 on Route 34, alongside a mega-mall already under construction.

Plan Commission officials Wednesday will review blueprints for the development east of Eldamain Road, which -- at more than twice the size of Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora -- would include shops, restaurants and up to four large department stores.

The City Council must approve zoning and annexation of the property before the project can go forward. The builder, Hillside-based Sexton Development, is also planning 390 houses and a roughly 280-home senior-living facility.

"We think that the three different elements we're going to be providing ... are some of the things that Yorkville is going to need and would love to have," said Drew Daniels, Sexton's director of development.

The company owns 270 acres along Route 34 between Eldamain and Cannonball Trail, a strip of cornfields and dirt expected to become a bustling commercial corridor in the next year.

Kendall Marketplace, the 800,000-square-foot mall already under construction at Route 34 and Cannonball, would flank the Sexton project's eastern edge. On a 50-acre parcel along the western edge, another developer is planning large retail stores and possibly a movie theater.

"It makes sense for them to cluster together," Community Development Director Travis Miller said, because the stores' proximity offers "a more convenient shopping experience."

The swarm of commercial enterprises suggests the amount of people, commerce and traffic in and around Yorkville has reached a "critical mass" appealing to large businesses seeking a customer base, said Economic Development Corporation Lynn Dubajic.

Kendall County, the nation's second fastest growing county, has roughly twice as many residents as it did in 2000. The population now hovers around 90,000, with roughly 12,000 living in Yorkville.

Sexton Development, which has owned the Route 34 property for three decades, decided to build on the parcel this year, Daniels said, because "there are just so many houses that are going up in Yorkville right now."

Sun-Times News Group