Block 37 stores to open by Thanksgiving. Good news for Chicago’s State Street!
Posted by ChicagoismynewBlog! on November 5, 2009
Block 37 signs 13 new tenants, plans to open by Thanksgiving
By Sandra M. Jones
Tribune staff reporter
3:41 p.m. CST, November 3, 2009
Joseph Freed and Associates LLC said it signed leases for 13 new tenants at Block 37, the embattled retail development that has been threatened with foreclosure.
The announcement of the new leases comes as developer Freed fights a move by lead lender Bank of America to put the retail and transit project at 108 N. State Street. into receivership less than a month before the mall’s first shops were set to open.
The new tenants — which include Sephora, Michelle Tan and Comic Vault — are a mix of chains and local shops aimed at satisfying the city’s redevelopment agreement to put unique retail in the famous city block.
Freed, which is contesting the foreclosure lawsuit, said it plans to open the mall by Thanksgiving and complete the project by the end of 2010, “assuming the bank cooperates on necessary funding.”
The banks filed a foreclosure suit last month, claiming that Freed essentially ran out of money to complete construction. .
Among the new tenants:
Sephora, the beauty chain owned by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, will open a 6,000 square foot store on the first floor of the four-story indoor mall with access onto State Street.
L’Occitane en Provence, a body care products chain, will occupy 750 square feet on the first floor.
Michelle Tan, a local women’s clothing designer, agreed to lease 650 square feet on the second level….
Check out the full Chicago Tribune article by clicking HERE! This is great news for the retailers getting ready for the Christmas shopping season and there’s even more information on the new stores going into Block 37 in the article!
