CHICAGO | 108 North State (Block 37)

[the urban politician]

And what's up with the mall's hours? Opening at 10 am, 11 am on Sunday, and then closing at 8pm? WTF?

Even in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, the mall would be open till 9pm, and that's not including holiday hours.

So if you're from out of town and happen to be staying downtown and like to get up at at 'em early, you'll be walking by closed storefronts on Saturday morning until 10 am. Weird...

[AdrianXSands]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

And what's up with the mall's hours? Opening at 10 am, 11 am on Sunday, and then closing at 8pm? WTF?

Even in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, the mall would be open till 9pm, and that's not including holiday hours

i noticed that too. it seems that retail in chicago, in general, closes way too early. in my opinion, all the major retail, up and down state AND michigan, should stay open till at least 10pm. i mean, doesn't that seem a little more appropriate?

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

And what's up with the mall's hours? Opening at 10 am, 11 am on Sunday, and then closing at 8pm? WTF?

Even in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, the mall would be open till 9pm, and that's not including holiday hours.

So if you're from out of town and happen to be staying downtown and like to get up at at 'em early, you'll be walking by closed storefronts on Saturday morning until 10 am. Weird...

Same hours as pretty much every other mall in Chicago (I think Water Tower Place is open an hour later) and Macy's.

[the urban politician]

^ Never knew that.

With all the new development downtown in the past decade, I wonder if anyone has tried to test the market by extending their hours, esp on Friday and Saturday nights?

[lawfin]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

i noticed that too. it seems that retail in chicago, in general, closes way too early. in my opinion, all the major retail, up and down state AND michigan, should stay open till at least 10pm. i mean, doesn't that seem a little more appropriate?

I agree I have commented on this to people while walkign down state or michigan to several people I know, they all agreed as well

[ardecila]

Akira? Seriously? Does this mean they're moving out of Citadel Center?

I believe the stores on the map are the ones that are prepared to launch next week. The build-out of other stores will occur later... there's only so much construction material you can squeeze through one loading dock. That would explain the lack of Club Monaco and Ben Sherman (if Sherman has pulled out, I'll be pissed...)

[denizen467]

So decades of infamy ... are now frozen onto this inaugural face of this project.



http://www.block37.com/mimages/boxy09/logo.gif

(Would this be like Ricketts deciding to add an image of a billy goat onto the Cubs uniforms - to face the curse head on?)

[wrabbit]

^ Huh - I always thought that "Block 37" was just a placeholder title. Guess not.

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

i noticed that too. it seems that retail in chicago, in general, closes way too early. in my opinion, all the major retail, up and down state AND michigan, should stay open till at least 10pm. i mean, doesn't that seem a little more appropriate?

Ditto with a lot of the restaurants in town. Many close by 9:30 on the weekdays.

[SamInTheLoop]

So it sounds like today may truly be decision day as to weather this project is actually controlled by Freed as it opens.....I was half expecting a settlement to have been reached by now. I suppose there's still a chance one could be announced today, but we'll see. Block 37 was actually the deal of the weak featured in the Wall St Journal's Wednesday commercial real estate section. Bank of America was still talking quite tough in the article, despite Crain's having reported on Monday that settlement talks of some sort had been underway between Freed and BofA.

Also, on the new Block 37 website, Ben Sherman, Club Monaco and Muvico are not even announced as tenants that are 'coming soon'. Hopefully just an ommission, and not a further defection of tenants. Also from Wed's WSJ piece, it was reported that the % of space that is presently leased is 55% (one would presume this does still include Muvico) and that the projection is that it will reach 72% by year-end. Sadly, I believe the current 55% figure is not much different than the % reported to be leased at about this time last year.......One final tenant I did not see in either the list, the floor plans (or have really heard anything about in a long time) is the the new Lettuce Entertain You coffee shop/small cafe concept that was slated for the first floor (separate from their large operation on the 3rd floor) - perhaps that one has been dropped as well...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Never knew that.

With all the new development downtown in the past decade, I wonder if anyone has tried to test the market by extending their hours, esp on Friday and Saturday nights?

I think to run later, the City would have to encourage more interesting lighting. Compared to places with late shopping, even Michigan Avenue is really only about adaquate when it comes to interesting lighting to attract later shoppers. My Chinese friends never understand why Chicago shops close so early compared to Chinese ones. Spain also has later shopping hours in many large cities, although not in small ones.

Speaking of Spain and lighting, it would be cool if more Chicago retail corridors had hanging light features over them, like retail streets in many parts of Madrid do. Really livens up the place at night. I think that is a feature in many latin cities, and with our large Spanish-speaking population, it seems like a natural fit.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

And what's up with the mall's hours? Opening at 10 am, 11 am on Sunday, and then closing at 8pm? WTF?

Even in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan, the mall would be open till 9pm, and that's not including holiday hours.

So if you're from out of town and happen to be staying downtown and like to get up at at 'em early, you'll be walking by closed storefronts on Saturday morning until 10 am. Weird...

It's pretty in line with the stores along Michigan as well - and I'm sure B37, as with other stores on State and Michigan, will have extended holiday hours (usually til 10pm from Thanksgiving-Christmas). Until relatively recently, some of the larger department stores like Sears and Marshall Fields ran 24/7 during holiday season, but I suspect that has mostly ended.

This isn't meant to sound snarky, but if there were enough a market to stay open later, stores would definitely do it. If they close at 8pm rather than the desired 10pm, it's most likely because it would cost them more to be open those extra 2 hours than the revenue it would bring in from additional sales. I'm also sure that B37's restaurants/bars/entertainment portions will be open later, and with luck that added foot traffic in conjunction with high accessibility/visibility as a transportation nexus will eventually support later hours.

Over the long run, I think it's a very strong possibility hours will increase, at least at certain establishments, particularly as the Loop's residential population (students and childless professionals) continues to increase. The number of bars and restaurants open late in the Loop is already dramatically higher than it was 10 years ago, and I see no reason for that trend to stop.

Having walked around the development a decent amount yesterday, I'm pretty pumped for it to open. Assuming the hotel component ever materializes this thing will have turned out pretty ok (just try to ignore opportunity costs, what 'could have been' etc). I'm also glad that it is being named Block 37 officially - it's the colloquial name everyone uses anyhow, and it's an inherently unique and memorable identifier. From a brand/marketing standpoint, it's the best choice. "108 North State" is bland, generic, and could exist in any one of dozens of cities.

Speaking of which, given the official name, a moderator could probably change the thread title to be simply "Block 37"...

[Chicago Shawn]

I can't believe how excited I am getting to watch this thing finally open. It has been one major disappointment after another, and yet I am still eagerly awaiting the opening. I love the fact that Block 37 was kept as a official name, it will be a local story that will live on.



TUP, the early closing times have been a national trend as of late as malls are trying to cut costs with the reductions in retail sales. I wouldn't say that downtown shopping is any different from the shopping hours of your typical suburban mall. I would expect stuff to stay open later once the economy turns around. One thing to note though, as stores in suburban malls are closing, downtown is still adding retail offerings.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Also, on the new Block 37 website, Ben Sherman, Club Monaco and Muvico are not even announced as tenants that are 'coming soon'. Hopefully just an ommission, and not a further defection of tenants.

I suspect it's just adhering to sound practice of not listing the tenant until the terms of the deals are finalized - certainly the case with Muvico, where it sounds like there is general interest but complete uncertainty regarding the actual team to operate the theater and the structure of the lease. The others I too had previouly thought were more concrete, i.e. signed letters of intent at least, although perhaps the retailers are leasing the space but not committing to when they will have build-out complete or store opening?

[george]

Breaking news, a Chicago judge just pulled Block 37 from the developer.

[spyguy]

^Yup.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=36219

Judge to appoint receiver for Block 37
By: Eddie Baeb and Thomas A. Corfman Nov. 20, 2009

Joseph Freed & Associates LLC will be stripped of control of Block 37.

A Cook County judge on Friday ruled to appoint a receiver to take over the project, where an underground pedway and a handful of retailers are to open this month.

Judge Margaret Brennan agreed to grant Bank of America Corp.'s request to appoint CB Richard Ellis Inc. as receiver.
---

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,2829689.story

CB Richard Ellis named receiver of Block 37
By Julie Wernau

...The court will reconvene Monday to decide how to proceed. The sticking point is that the city of Chicago wants language in the order for the receiver to assure that the project will be completed. Developer Joseph Freed had hoped to open the retail complex by Thanksgiving.

Bank of America is concerned that such language would provide a blank check to complete the project.

[woodrow]

I cannot figure BoA's angle. I agree with the consultant quoted in the article - given that it is opening, why not wait? I was there today and there were HUNDRED's of workers. I peeked in windows to the public corridors and stores and it is almost ready to go. There were store employees going into Steve Madden.

Will Freed just tell the workers stop what your doing NOW! and walk off? Who is going to be doing the thousand little details that go with opening a new place? IF Freed workers leave, will the other stores be able to open next Friday? I don't know.

[migueltorres]

It seems like the block 37 website has been taken down.

This webpage is not available.

The webpage at http://www.block37.com/directory.cfm?show=All might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

EDIT: It works now. I literally tried to get into it for 10 minutes before posting.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by migueltorres

It seems like the block 37 website has been taken down.

Works for me
http://www.block37.com/

Ironic they chose all those converging taxi cabs for opening flash screen. This project is a car wreck if I've ever seen one.

[migueltorres]

Funny how they have a GLBT section on the website but they don't really say anything. I still will be there on opening day. I work a block away and I'm really looking forward to the extra stores and restaurants, and hopefully the movie theater

GLBT

Shopping from classic retailers to Chicago designers, entertainment that captivates, a signature dining collection comprised of first-to-Chicago and uniquely local restaurants all housed within a grand five-story grand atrium.
Block 37 is bursting with Pride and is a can’t miss destination for anyone who really wants to experience Chicago.
Use these resources to start planning your Chicago visit today! www.choosechicago.com/glbt/Pages/glbt.aspx

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by woodrow

Will Freed just tell the workers stop what your doing NOW! and walk off? Who is going to be doing the thousand little details that go with opening a new place? IF Freed workers leave, will the other stores be able to open next Friday? I don't know.

A) The stores deal directly with contractors for their build-outs, so this doesn't affect their plans to finish build-out.

B) Contractors working for Freed have performed most work on the common spaces and such, and $7 million has been placed in escrow to finish the common spaces on the pedway level to fulfill Freed's obligation to the city to re-open the pedway connection. The contractors don't care where the money's coming from, as long as they have a legal claim to get paid.

I'm really looking forward to the pedway connection reopening. The closure of this passageway pretty much invalidated the entire pedway network. Outside of Illinois Center (which is a separate network), it wasn't really useful for anything without this passageway. I don't have any hard numbers, but I haven't seen significant crowds in the pedway at all since 2005.