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Antioch Marketplace
Below is an email the RMV Board received from the developer of Antioch Marketplace.
Email received 6/28/2007
We are having a meeting at the Village of Antioch Committee of the Whole on Tuesday night, July 31st at 7:00 pm.
The Committee of the Whole is comprised of the Village Board of Trustee members, and it is a very important meeting for us and for the project as it is the first time that this Board as a whole will be looking at our project presentation.
The Committee presentation is the next step required before taking the project to a Village Board hearing where the Board votes on whether or not to approve our project.
While many residents appear to be in favor of our project, a strong community voice is required to let the Village officials know that the local community supports our project and would like to see it move forward.
Accordingly, we would like to count on your support and the support of your neighbors at the hearing on July 31st.
Also, attached is a recent site plan of our project that illustrates the anchors who have committed to the project pending Village approvals for the project.
We currently have commitments for about 75% of the space in our +/- 600,000 square foot project and are working on other commitments that would bring us to the 80% commitment level.
If approved, the project would open in Summer, 2009 and would likely be 95% (if not more) occupied on the opening date, given the current retailer and restaurant demand that we are currently experiencing.
We feel that we are bringing many of the best-in-class retailers in the country to this project, but the retailers won't wait around if they feel that the project won't get done or if the Village is not moving the project approvals forward in a timely manner.
Interestingly enough, it appears that the surrounding local communities to Antioch would be eager to bring such a regional retail project into their municipal borders and are currently courting our anchor occupants.
Hopefully, that option will not become a consideration to our retailers, as they will ultimately seek to fill the retail market void in Northern Lake County in another location should our project not be approved or move forward in a timely manner in the Village of Antioch.
As we have discussed in the past, there are significant economic impacts that this project can generate for the local community, including millions of dollars of sales tax revenues for the Village and real estate taxes for the local school system and other local districts as well as hundreds of construction and permanent jobs.
As we have also discussed, we are planning extensive roadway improvements to State Route 173 abutting our project that will help alleviate traffic congestion in the area. Such improvements, which are currently under consideration by the Illinois Department of Transportation, are only made possible if our project moves forward.
On a final note, not only are we proud of the retailers that we are planning to bring to your community, but we are proud of our extensive efforts to-date (we have been in the planning stages of this project for about one year) to create a first-class development including:
- Master-planned overall development scheme (as opposed to an incongruous and disconnected series of commercial developments);
- Carefully-selected retail tenancy to bring the finest shopping experience to the Village of Antioch;
- Cohesive shopping center design including attractive buildings, sensitive parking lot lighting scheme and noise-reducing truck delivery dock walls;
- Abundant landscaping plan with lush proposed plantings and ground cover;
- Community-orientated development including outdoor plazas, patio areas, pedestrian walkways and bicycle pathways;
- Vehicular-friendly planned external and internal roadway improvements with future inter-connections planned to adjoining potential development sites;
- Environmentally-sensitive project including a most favorable recommendation from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources;
- State-of-the-art stormwater detention system and wetland restoration area; and,
- Uniform and tasteful monument sign program.
I would also be happy to speak again to your homeowner group before the meeting to further discuss.
I will be in touch and thank you again for your consideration.
(PDF Attachment 1.04mb)
Andrew Goodman
GMX Real Estate Group, LLC
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