US Equities Starts Work on $40M MetraMarket

CHICAGO-Construction will begin next month on MetraMarket, a 200,000-sf West Loop retail and restaurant development planned for two blocks bounded by Canal, Clinton, Lake and Washington streets near the Ogilvie Transportation Center. The development will be anchored by a European-style open-air market, and is expected to open in late spring 2009. Michael Tobin, recently hired SVP at US Equities Realty, declined to disclose the cost of the development, but company officials familiar with the project have previously told GlobeSt.com that it would come in at more than $40 million.

“The key to the whole thing is creating a high-quality, indoor, year-round French market,” Tobin said. “The idea is to bring some energy and retail presence to the unused space near the Ogilvie Transportation Center to serve the neighborhood that grew up around it. There was nothing around this train station 15 years ago; now you have residential and increasing commuter traffic.”

The development will be anchored by a 15,000-sf French market managed by Paris-based Sebastien Bensidoun, which will offer fresh produce, meats, fish, cheese and a bakery. CVS has signed another significant lease, planning a 14,000-sf pharmacy. “What you haven’t had is any new retail that has been open to serve the market,” Tobin said. “Not only will this serve the people living and working in the area, but people traveling through the Metra station.”