The project will have 285,000 sf of retail in a three-level building. "This is an area that is really void of retail and is something that the community needs and really is looking for," Pachucki says. Leases have already been signed for Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas for about 40,000 sf for an eight-screen movie theater and by Export Fitness for about 41,000 sf to 42,000 sf, Pachucki says. Both of the leases are for the third level. The term of the leases was not disclosed except to say that they were "long-term." The theater and fitness center are the only leases signed at this time. "We are talking to several grocery stores as well as a number of national midsize tenants," he says. "We would like to see a fashion component and we would like to see restaurants so that it is a balanced retail project." Pachucki did not disclose a lease rate range for the project. "It varies on the size of the tenant, the contribution [and] the length of the term. It is a pretty wide gamut," he says.

West Loop Promenade will also have probably "north of 200" residential units that will be, on average, between 1,000 sf and 1,100 sf, Pachucki says. There is expected to be a mix of unit types but plans are still being finalized. The development will likely have two separate towers for the residential and retail portions, he says.

The former headquarters and manufacturing facility for Fannie May is currently located on the site and will be demolished later this summer or early this fall, Pachucki says. The site is near an interchange for the Eisenhower Expressway. "It is the only retail really in Chicago that has that kind of accessibility as well as visibility," he says. Construction is expected to begin early next spring. First occupancies will occur late in 2008 to early spring of 2009 with the first retailers expected to open in the late spring or early summer of 2009, he says.