NEWS & EVENTS

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Mall Generates Mixed Feelings
By Heather Gillers, Sun-Times News Group,
Copyright © 2007 Sun-Times News Group

YORKVILLE — Educators, businessmen and teenagers rarely band together.

But school tax dollars, economic growth and prom dress shopping are all at stake in a lawsuit brought by 24 area residents to stop construction on a $135 million mega-mall, planned for Route 34 and Cannonball Trail.

"It's a place to hang out, a cool little teenage hangout," said Josh Cook, a junior at Yorkville High School. "It'll give people more things to do around here."

The 800,000-square-foot shopping center, dubbed Kendall Marketplace, is expected to bring Target and Kohl's to town this year, followed by Home Depot, PetSmart, Office Max, other stores and restaurants, and even Yorkville's first bookstore.

The project has been a hot topic from carpools to board rooms since aldermen approved it by a wide margin in August.

School officials, who submitted a letter supporting the mall to the court, say the growing Yorkville School District needs the millions of dollars in tax revenue the project would generate.

Yorkville Economic Development Corporation Director Lynn Dubajic welcomes the prospect of some 2,500 new jobs -- more than the combined number offered by Yorkville's current 25 major private employers.

Shopping Close to Home
But to many area residents, the perks of Kendall Marketplace belong not on a bank statement or a payroll but in a dresser drawer.

"I would have a place in town to be able run out and get a pair of socks for my son," said resident Cheryl Knox. "I could shop for Christmas right here in Yorkville rather than running to Oswego or Geneva."

Dubajic last week asked for feedback from residents who support the project, and has received roughly 50 letters and e-mails per day.

In surveys Dubajic's group conducted in 2004, residents, business owners and high school students all named Kohl's the department store they would most like to see in town, and listed Target as their most-coveted general merchandiser.

"I'd go all the time, like once a week or something," Yorkville High School senior Lauren Luettich said when asked about Kendall Marketplace. These days, Luettich drives to the Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora to buy clothes.

Timing Delicate
The lawsuit centers on the 24 Kendall County residents' argument that the mall blueprint is inconsistent with the city's previously stated plans for the property, according to their lawyer, Carl Buck. The plaintiffs belong to a group known as the Cannonball Trail Civic League, which has tried for years to preserve the rural character of the area, as development has made its way down both Route 34 and Cannonball Trail.

Yorkville city attorney John Wyeth and the mall developer, Chicago-based Harlem Irving Cos., have declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The timing of the court case might be as influential as the verdict itself, because delays could prompt retailers to lose interest. According to city development officials, for example, Kohl's was expected to take over its store site March 1, 11 days before a Kendall County judge is scheduled to hear the case. Yorkville officials have expressed confidence that the company can work around that timetable and open its store on schedule -- but only if the case is resolved quickly and in the mall's favor.

"If it looks as though (Kohl's) won't open on schedule, they will remove it and open a store across the country," Dubajic said. "They will say Yorkville, Illinois, out, Jacksonville, Wyoming, in.

"If (company representatives) have a bad taste in their mouth regarding Yorkville, then Yorkville may not come back on Kohl's radar ever."

A Kohl's spokesman declined to comment, citing a lack of "firm details" on the Yorkville project.

About Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol LLC
Rathbun, Cservenyak & Kozol LLC is a Will County-based law firm in the practice of civil litigation. The firm consists of eleven (11) attorneys who provide aggressive legal services to industry, governments, insurance companies and individuals. The firm serves clients from Will County and surrounding counties both in state and federal court.