Route 34 Retail Area Keeps Growing

Second Center to bring total to 1.8 million sq. feet of shopping space

By Tony Scott

The number of retail stores is growing for one massive shopping center even as plans for another large retail development were to be presented to the Yorkville Plan Commissions this week.

Developers announced this week that Dick’s Sporting Goods is in negotiations and has signed a letter of intent to locate in the Kendall Marketplace retail center at the northwest corner of Route 34 and Cannonball Trail.
           
Marshall’s clothing store has signed a similar letter of intent, according to Rick Filler of developer Harlem Irving Companies of Chicago. Kay Jewelers, Famous Footwear, Ulta Cosmetics and a Bath and Body Works store are also slated to locate in the Kendall Marketplace center. They will join Super Target, Home Depot, Kohl’s and several other retailers that will eventually be housed in the outdoor mall.
           
Ground was broken on the Super Target store on Monday, and ground should be broken on the Home Depot store sometime in August, Dubajic said. Kohl’s is already under construction and is scheduled to open in the fall.
           
Also, developers for the Rob Roy Falls development, proposed with approximately one million square feet of retail space, were scheduled to meet with the Yorkville Plan Commission Wednesday evening.

Hillside, Ill.-based Sexton Development LLC, the project developers, met with the commission last September to present its initial concept plan. The developers are now asking the city for annexation, zoning, and a concept planned unit development (PUD) plan for the 272-acre development immediately west of the Kendall Marketplace.

Drew Daniels, spokesman for Sexton Development said Monday that the development is “extremely close to the (city’s) original comprehensive plan, where they originally intended for commercial.

“We’re not re-inventing the wheel here; we’re trying to do what’s best for the city,” Daniels said. “And I really think there’s a need for commercial (development). Anyone and everyone that’s lived in Yorkville knows that there’s been so many houses but so little commercial and retail.”

Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation, said the proposed center is yet another positive move for a retail corridor along Route 34.

“This project has the potential of having one million square feet of commercial development, which is actually larger than Kendall Marketplace,” she said. “It reinforces the regional shopping district in Yorkville, and allows the next wave of retailers, which will incorporate a variety of additional choices to the consumers of Kendall County.

Yorkville Kohl’s hiring
In related news, Dubajic said Kohl’s is going to start hiring for its new Yorkville store later this month. She said to watch for a sales trailer on the Kohl’s and Kendall Marketplace site where people can apply for jobs at the store.

Also, two new businesses are opening at Walnut Plaza, at the corner of Route 47 and Walnut Street.

Dubajic said a Pepe’s Mexican restaurant and a Verlo custom mattress store will be opening soon in the shopping center.

Also, Amici, an Italian restaurant being built along the south side of Route 34 east of Cannonball Trail, is slated to open in the summer, Dubajic said. The restaurant will serve authentic Italian food, she said.

The Kendall County Record