What do you do when a regular Walmart isn't big enough? Naturally, you build a "Super Walmart," something Skokie may see as early as next year.
A Super Walmart has a barber shop, grocery store and an on-site ophthalmologist, among other things. If plans go through, the mega store would be constructed near the intersection of Touhy and St. Louis avenues.
Next to the retail giant would be a Chase Bank with an accompanying four lane drive-through, another unnamed bank with a three lane drive through and 17,000-square-feet of strip mall shops likely to be cell phone stores or quick service restaurants. Finally, a medical building will round out the area that will have at least 700 parking spaces.
Trustees are set to vote on the project at their April 16 meeting.
With the site secured - an estimated 195,000-square-feet - some issues still need to be ironed out.
All that square footage has some residents concerned, saying the new development will lead to increased traffic congestion. There's also another Walmart in nearby Niles, but that doesn't seem to be a conflict.
“I firmly believe we will be able to execute on this project because of the strong community and demographics and the fact that it is an infill location,” noted Peter Eisenberg, a principal of Clark Street Development, the company behind the proposal. “Therefore, it is in the middle of a densely populated area.”
Traffic a concern
With the project tentatively labeled as “Touhy Marketplace,” a menu full of issues need to be straightened out first.
The village is asking Clark Street to contribute $50,000 for future improvements on Howard Street. Much of the suggested traffic coming into Touhy Marketplace is expected to access the site via Howard Street. A village official said the developer has agreed with those terms, but a source familiar with the negotiations said the developer is willing to discuss that request and has yet to agree.
Moreover, employees who already work near the proposed site said the area will be overwhelmed with vehicles.
“This will add considerably to the traffic,” said Richard Block, who is employed on the 7300 block of Monticello Avenue. He said he and his fellow employees can already wait up to 15 minutes just to turn onto Touhy Avenue, and that's before construction.
But the proponents of the plan do not believe traffic patterns will be seriously altered by the new buildings.
A new traffic signal on St. Louis Avenue is expected to help ease the expected traffic.
Other issues remaining on the table include working out where trucks will load their materials for the small retail shops at the south edge of the building as well as vending machines placed just outside the Walmart. Skokie has not had outdoor vending machines in the past and they had only been approved at Old Orchard Mall for an interior location that targets teenagers.
Scott Berman, one of the plan commission members, voted against the issuance of a special use permit for the vending machines, but other members went in another direction and believed that matter could be resolved by staff before the village board votes.
A second try
This is the second recent attempt to build out this site. In 2008, a project that was proposed and approved by the village was never executed due to the developer experiencing financial problems. At the end of the day, however, this project is likely to go forward as there is too much money on the table for all sides.
“This has been a terrific partnership with the village of Skokie,” Eisenberg said. “We look forward to continuing to move through the process and eventually gain final approvals to eventually execute the process.”
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2. Please provide an internet link comapring the financials comparing a Walmart to a financial farm showing they are equaly lucrative. 3. Crawford has cars parked because some homes were built in the 1950's without driveways when there was still just stops signs on Crawford. There are no alleys so where would homeowners park? 4. Sadly, school districts are screwed up but that is a mess indepoendant from the Village entity and administration.
I do not know of any Urban Farm Developers. I know it is an emerging field, and I would hope someone (a university, a developer, etc.). I am ignorant to the nuances of development, although I try to stay up to date on what is best for our communities. While the pure numbers may be higher for a Super Wal-mart, the sustainability of agriculture versus the cannibalism from other businesses that a Supercenter would entail, balance out any local economic benefit. So you would build this on the backs of Skokie and Lincolnwood, hoping to entice people away from the other Wal-Mart and two Targets within a mile or so, yet the tax district, again, would benefit a school that shouldn't even exist? The only winner here is Wal-Mart. Perhaps there should be a subsidized driveway installation program at Skokie's expense? When we get new sidewalks, half is paid by the government to improve the community. Right now, driving up or down Crawford is annoying at best, and dangerous at some points. A grandfathered parking clause shouldn't overshadow the needs of a region. Look at Northfield, for example. Luckily, they had IDOT put them in their place. I agree about the state of school districts. Illinois districts are so fragmented that it is a burden on the local communities. All so we can have more superintendents and administrators.
1. You have no data about what is more “Lucrative” an urban farm or Walmart. 2. If the farm is growing plants the real estate and sales tax revenue would be far less than a shopping center. 3. The number of jobs a farm creates is far less than retail. 4. The claim about the school “East Prairie” is not necessarily that it shouldn’t exist, but that we don’t need a separate district. If it were closed it would be a zero sum gain because other schools would have to be enlarged to accommodate the schools and I have no doubt they would bloat the administration accordingly. 5. If we don’t want new development because it will cannabalize old development nothing would ever be built. 6. If you are referring to sidewalks being half paid by the government, this is the biggest scam going if you refer to things like the Skokie Sidewalk replacement program where they stick adjoining property owners for half the cost. Why should adjoining owners pay for puiblic property jsut because they own property in proximity? What’s next? The streetlight bulb by your house burns out and you get a bill? There is a pothole in the street in front of your house and you get a bill. There is a serious question about the legality of Skokie’s strong arm sidewalk replacement cost tactics.
First, I have to wonder if you or your law firm is involved in this deal. You seem quite vehement about Mr. Walton's venture coming to town. I do not doubt that I have flaws to my argument. They are opinion, based on personal feelings, with background knowledge in some of the areas. While my estimations of the lucrative comparison may be more rhetoric, Wal-Mart is only recently working on cleaning up its environmental impact, and several studies have shown that only areas that are "not adequately served commercially" benefit from the introduction of a Super Wal-Mart. I'm not going to cite sources here, since I assume you are intelligent enough to use Google. So you are right, my lucrative argument, which was only a part of a whole, was flawed. Do you have any data showing that the decrease in real estate tax, based on the decrease in property value that will occur upon the opening of the Supercenter (again, you are welcome to look up the readily available data), will be offset by the increased tax revenue at this store? You are correct that fewer jobs are created by a farm. However, farms (at least where I come from) pay a living wage, not just a minimum wage. Again, this is about the big picture, not immediate gain. I disagree about your assumption that the loss of a district would be zero-sum. All of the immediately surrounding districts are already equipped and staffed to absorb that district.
I agree with you about the sidewalk program. However, lack of driveways through that portion of Skokie is detrimental to the region and township, so who is more important? The needs of a few dozen homeowners, or the needs of a developing region? Again, I would direct you to Northfield's recent Movewillowforward.com And while we are at it, why do we need 4 different villages in one township? Tradition? If Niles is #1 place to live, and Morton Grove #2 (according to media), and Skokie and Lincolnwood don't even rank...why wouldn't we want to integrate into a smaller government, for a slightly larger area? Just because we are on the Chicago border doesn't mean we have to operate like Chicago!
Before I look for data vis a vis a decrease in property value caused by opening a Walmart, I request that you provide information that shows any such decrease has occurred on a sizeable scale anywhere. You mis state what I said. It is not the loss of a district so much as so much as loss of a school. If you think I am wrong, just check out the Skokie districts now with Superintendents, assistant Superintendants, Principals and assistant Principals and on and on ad nauseum. If you don’t think the enlarged districts would continue the administrative bloat you have more faith in them than I do.
Check out District 219 http://www.familytaxpayers.org/salary.php Seems like average is around $100K / year+ Sick days & Fringes. Comes to about $540.00 / day for 185 work days a year.
Hmm. So if Skokie should be like Niles, then Skokie needs 2 Walmarts just like Niles has.
Name: Gatta, Nanciann Salary: $299,597 Position: District Superintendent Full/Part Time: Fulltime Percent Time Employed: 100% Assignment: Administration Years Teaching: 16 Degree: Doctorate School Name: Niles Twp CHSD 219 District Name: Niles Twp CHSD 219
http://skokie.patch.com/articles/gallery-talking-farm-breaks-ground-in-skokie#photo-9610273 Your urban Farm is starting now!