The former Libby manufacturing plant, shuttered for more than a decade, could give way to a shopping mall if early plans for the site at Interstate Highway 57 and 119th Street proceed, according to Chester Wilson, chief of staff for Ald. Carrie Austin (34th).
The 32-acre site has been leased by the city Streets and Sanitation Department and two private manufacturers over recent years, but all are expected to have vacated the site by the end of February with demolition of the plant set for early spring.
The site is owned by Urban Investment Trust, a developer that plans to build a 446,000-square-foot retail center. The development’s anchor, Dominicks Finer Foods Inc., will operate a gas station at the site, the first of its kind. The development’s other anticipated key tenant, an East Coast home improvement store, pulled out of negotiations for a deal in November.
Developers are seeking another anchor and negotiating with several tenants. Wilson says the mall will include family-style restaurants, fast food franchises, home improvement stores, sporting goods retailers and clothing stores.
He expects construction on the $50 million project to start by summer.
