New stores and additional construction is in the works for Brookside Marketplace as current owner Ryan Companies U.S. Inc. prepares to sell the busy shopping center to DDR Corp., a publicly-traded company based in Ohio.
DDR Executive Vice President Mark Bratt said if all goes as planned, DDR will purchase the shopping center in the next 60 days. The company is already in preliminary talks with a tenant who may fill a vacant storefront and has also discussed additional construction in the marketplace with village officials.
“It is something we’ll be considering,” Bratt said.
DDR representatives attended a Feb. 21 Tinley Park Village Board meeting where trustees agreed to coordinate a sales tax sharing agreement for the marketplace it currently has with Ryan.
The agreement was adopted by trustees last year to share up to $1.25 million of sales tax dollars generated by new construction during a 10-year period. Ryan added nearly 50,000 square feet of retail space to the shopping center last year for new retailers, including Old Navy and HomeGoods.
Village trustees on Feb. 21 agreed on first reading to assign those sales tax dollars to an escrow agent. The funds then will be divided between Ryan and DDR based on their own agreement. Final approval should follow in March.
“I think they’ve made some decisions among themselves as to how to share that money,” said Dave Seaman, village trustee and chair of the Finance and Economic Development Committee.
The village is not approving any changes to the 2011 agreement itself and Ryan will also continue to receive sales tax dollars based on a separate incentive agreement with the village until it expires in 2014. That agreement is capped at $5 million.
Seaman said Ryan is more interested in building retail centers than managing them, and so a sale to DDR will allow it to move on to new projects.
“As I understand it, they’re into development so they are seeing other opportunities to redeploy capital,” he said.
Discussions between DDR and the village have focused on the possibility of relocating a water detention pond at the marketplace and using the space for additional development, Seaman said.
“We think it’s a first class retail property and it serves the community well and can be something that is even more dynamic in terms of being a shopping center,” Bratt said.
DDR representatives declined to talk about possible new tenants for the marketplace but said they hope to bring a new retailer to the space nearest Harlem Avenue, which currently has multiple vacancies.
DDR has five other shopping centers in the Chicago area, the nearest one being the Home Depot Center in Orland Park, officials said.
“This would be one of our crown jewels here in Chicago and we look forward to making it better as we move forward here,” Bratt said.
In addition to changes at the Brookside Marketplace, Seaman said conversations are ongoing for a possible big box development on a vacant piece of land across the street from Brookside Marketplace at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue.
“I think as you see the economy recover, the interest continues to increase, so I would not be surprised if something happened there within the next year,” he said.
