Devon Bank has signed a 25-year lease for 8,000 sf for a full-service bank branch. The bank is scheduled to open in the middle of next year. Keith Isselhardt, with Sierra Realty Advisors, represented Freedom Commons in the lease transaction. Lindsay Scherr, with Coldwell Banker Commercial, represented Devon Bank in the transaction.

More than 25% of the development's 42,000 sf of retail space has been pre-leased with another 25% of the space in letters of intent negotiations. LA Fitness is leasing 45,000 sf and is expected to open in the middle of December, Krug says. Maggiano's Little Italy and Morton's Steakhouse are expected to open in January and a multi-tenant building is expected to open in February. Other tenants will include Fidelity Funds and a multitude of restaurants and food establishments such as The White Chocolate Grill, Champps Americana, Jason's Deli, Subway and Taco Fresco. The majority of the leases have terms of "15 years or more," Krug says. The joint venture is currently in lease negotiations with "a couple of medical spa" businesses that do "non-invasive" procedures, a hair salon and a tanning salon, he says. The asking lease rate is $32 per sf net.

The joint venture acquired a 15-acre parcel on the western side of the development in 2004 and a 10-acre parcel in 2006. The joint venture was interested in the land, in part, because construction is underway for an interchange for Freedom Boulevard for I-88 and is expected to be completed later this year. "It was a very unique opportunity where you are buying 25 acres of raw land right on an interstate interchange in an area that is already pretty much fully developed," Krug says. The site was originally zoned for office research by the city of Naperville, but there was no retail or restaurants in the area without driving about 20 minutes to downtown Naperville. "We thought, with the new interchange, there really would be a big need and a big demand for retail," he says.