[brian_b]

Originally Posted by Frankie

West Side growth spurs Jewel site
'WAITING A LONG TIME'

A full-size Jewel/Osco can expect to draw customers from the entire West Loop, says James Kutill, a vice-president with Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago real estate consultancy. The West Loop, bounded by the Chicago River on the east, the Kennedy Expressway west, Roosevelt Road south and Ohio Street north, has added 11,500 residential units over the past 15 years, with potential for 3,600 more in the next two years, he says.

"The numbers suggest the area would support a full-size grocery store," he says.

The two closest full-size groceries, owned by Dominick's, are less than a mile away each, one at Madison Avenue and Halsted Street in the West Loop and the other at Grand Avenue and Columbus Drive in Streeterville. "Those would be the closest competitors. But I think this will affect any grocery store within a 15-minute drive," Mr. Kutill says.

Nearby residents say a local grocery is long overdue. "We've been waiting a long time. The area is growing rapidly and we need retail," says Linda Ewing, president of the Fulton River District Assn., a local civic group. "We want to develop it into a walking neighborhood."

Typical real estate person I live in the area and walk to the Dominick's at Skybridge. I'm not the only one, either. Just eyeballing it tells me that at least 1/3rd of that store is pedestrian shoppers. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 50% either. I see a lot of people walking with Dominick's bags up in the area of this Jewel store too.