BURR RIDGE, IL-Construction is almost complete, and the majority of the space is pre-leased on the retail portion of the $150-million Burr Ridge Village Center. The approximate 600,000-sf development is on 20 acres at the intersection of County Line Rd. and I-55. The project is being developed by Opus North Corp., headquartered in Rosemont, IL.

Opus North had been thinking of developing a lifestyle center and chose Burr Ridge because of the location on I-55 and near I-294 and “because of the high average household income of the trade area,” which included the village, Hinsdale, Western Springs, Darien and surrounding communities, says Tim Thanasouras, senior real estate director for Opus North. The communities are some of the most upscale in the Chicagoland area. The developer feels Burr Ridge “will be a place where the retailers that we wanted to attract, which were the national fashion tenants, could actually be supported by the demographics that are in that marketplace,” Thanasouras says.

For example, Kohler recently signed a lease for 13,600 sf of space that will include about 3,000 sf of retail space and the rest for a Kohler Waters Spa, similar to the one in Kohler, WI, Thanasouras says. The spa will be the third in the world and the first location to have both a spa and Kohler store. A lot of the customers for the Kohler Waters Spa in Kohler, WI are from the Chicago area and this would allow them to visit the spa without having to travel for several hours, he reasons.