Boss said that the Chicago's appeal to big box development has a national context, in that retailers are looking into the possibilities of new urban stores throughout the county. "There are a lot of interesting urban big box projects in the United States," she said, noting that a lot of them are in a mixed-use setting. "Right now, for instance, all of Simon Properties' projects are in mixed-use developments, with street grids kept intact, or added."

Mallott pointed out that as a grocery store, Dominick's doesn't count as a big box retailer, strictly speaking. Still, he noted that the grocery stores interest in the city is as intense as Target's or Home Depot's or Best Buy's. "As we see it, there are three challenges to opening in city neighborhoods," he said. "Land assemblage is very difficult. Dealing with the city bureaucracy can be as well. And there's also the cost of building in an urban environment, which is usually higher than elsewhere."

Russell said that Target is "always looking in urban areas, but that wasn't the case until recently. We had to learn how to build in urban areas, and how to use the tighter spaces as efficiently as possible--how to configure the sales floor, the receiving and stockrooms, and parking. It's all very different from building out in a cornfield."

He did note, however, that the retailer now has some expertise in urban development, and it's paying off. "Our store at Elston and Logan, on the North Side of Chicago, exceeded all of our expectations," he said. "It's the highest-grossing store in the entire chain, and our other urban sites are doing well too."