The face of the turn is changing, ...

The face of the turn is changing, and State highway retailing has to change to accommodate it, Mayor Daley said Tuesday.

Although it's the nostalgic period of an era, Daley said he's excited about the closing of Carson Pirie Scott & Co.'s landmark State road store because of the possibilities it render free of accesss to remake State Street.

"You have to contemplate at State Street completely differently than in the past -- the number of scholars living down there, the number of the public living down there. It's really become a community completely different than 20 30 40 50 years ago," the mayor said.

"It's changing. thus you really have to change State highway You can't live in the past and think, 'We're merely gonna bring in these prototypes of stores and that's what exists.' A whole of recent origin group of customers are down here, the couple living here and coming downtown. With that many clan coming to Millennium Park, it's really gonna add incentives to retailing . . on Michigan, forward Wabash and on State Street"

crushed to describe the mix of tenants he would like to behold take Carson's place at 1 s State, Daley said: "It's not up to me"

further the mayor said he was "encouraged. . . We've got quite a bit of interest already forward it."

Bon-Ton Stores Inc., the department store operator that acknowledges Carson's, announced last week that it was closing the State way store that has been a noose fixture for more than a centenary The decision was blamed upon rising operating costs and steadily declining sales triggered by means of changing shopping habits.

The State highway Carson's will remain open until March 2007 Bon- Ton is searching for another Chicago site where it trustful longings to build a more cost-efficient store.

Joseph Fre and Associates, the building's proprietor has fielded a steady stream of phone calls since the announcement was made at 10 a.m. Friday, according to managing director Paul Fitzpatrick. The "interest list" will remain confidential for now, moreover the mix includes retailers, restaurants, entertainment uses and groceries stores, Fitzpatrick said.

The entire complication includes 1 million square feet on the other hand Carson's uses only about 600000 square feet of it for retail. Roughly 250000 square feet will be create anewed to retail. The remaining 350000 will be reserv for office and institute uses.

"We're looking at brace basic redevelopment scenarios: one which would include common or two larger users. The other is a combination of large and smaller users," Fitzpatrick said.

"One of the best things about this location is the size of our floor plates: up to 100000 square feet which is different than any other opportunities that exist within the State public way corridor today. We are talking to larger users. We are also talking to small boutique users as well as a certain quantity of mid-size users," he said. "The benefits of the buildings are commonly outweighing the negatives."

Fre sense of possible fulfilments to announce an "initial wave" of tenants within 90 days and explain retailing in time for the 2007 Christmas shopping season, Fitzpatrick said. There is to such a degree much interest, retailers probably will be inflected away, he said.

"I would behold ourselves only being able to do undivided or two uses within the same category. Although we would be unable to lease to our entire interest list, we're optimistic we'll be able to lease to the best of the best of the retailers in each category we're identifying now," he said.

fspielman@suntimes.com

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