Officials Say Town Center Needs Anchor, Entertainment Businesses

What should be done to revitalize Buffalo Grove’s Town Center? Officials say a strong anchor and new entertainment venues would help drive traffic to the shopping center.

“It needs a really good anchor,” said Eddie Palacios, who handles the shopping center’s leasing and marketing for Edgemark Commericial Real Estate Services.

“If Brunswick happens, it will bring a great use,” he said. But, he added, “We need a much bigger anchor than that.”

A grocery store would be an ideal anchor, Palacios said. “If I could have a wish list, that would be on it."

Town Center currently has five storefronts, totaling about 10,000 square feet, available for lease, Palacios said. While the spaces are not contiguous, other tenants could be relocated to create a single large store if the right business comes along, he said.

Business recruitment is the responsibility of Edgemark, but the Village of Buffalo Grove “will work with a prospective tenant if they are looking at a specific space,” Village Manager Dane Bragg said.

He said while he doesn’t have specific businesses in mind for Town Center, he has a broad vision of what might breathe new life into the shopping center.

“Certainly, anything food and beverage related, entertainment related would fit well there,” Bragg said of the center, which houses eSkape Entertainment Center, Buffalo Grove Theater, Rack ‘em Up and Title Boxing Club, among others.

“It’s about creating a place where people want to gather,” Bragg said. 

Challenges

Limited visibility from the road and the size and positioning of the shopping center present challenges, Bragg and Palacios both said.

“It’s a narrow and long site. It’s difficult to get someone to walk from the north end to the south end,” Bragg said. “Clothing stores, for example, would probably have a more difficult time in that area right now.” 

New signage at the shopping center’s entrances could help draw attention to Town Center, Palacios said, but there are no immediate plans in place.

“If the city would let us have a new pylon, that would be great,” Palacios said. But the large, digital sign he envisions would cost about $100,000, he said. “The landlord would love something like that, but it’s just not in the budget.”

Despite the challenges, Palacios said, “without an anchor, I think we have a good tenant base.” Town Center is composed of about 188,000 square feet and features nine restaurants as well as nail, hair and tanning salons.

“We just got out of a really hard recession and we’re still in economically hard times, but retailers are starting to come,” Palacios said. A café/bakery will open in Town Center this summer, he said, and other business contracts are pending.

Downtown benefits

Discussions about Town Center began long ago, but the future of the shopping center has especially been questioned by some Buffalo Grove residents following a developer's preliminary proposal to construct a downtown complex just to the west.

Bragg said he doesn’t think the proposed development would negatively impact the existing shopping center. 

“I actually think it’s an opportunity not only for Town Center, but for the entire area. We’re forcing a discussion as to what the mix should be along the Lake-Cook corridor,” he said. “I think the two sites are in close enough proximity that it actually generates more retail traffic in the corridor.”

Palacios agreed. “It would be nice,” he said. “I think it would be good for everybody. The downtown center will drive traffic. We’ll be on the outskirts of it.”

But, he added, the area can only support so many similar businesses. Early downtown plans include the construction of a grocery new and a new movie theater.

"They have to be receptive to who's been there and support the retailers that are there already and complement them," Palacios said. 

What anchor stores or entertainment venues would you like to see in Town Center? Tell us in the comment section below.