The people who live and work in the greater Loop have been facing a conundrum of sorts lately.
Everyone would like more convenient, service-oriented businesses: restaurants, retail operations, banks and even health centers.
On the other hand, no one–especially residents of the Loop–desires the gridlock now endemic to other retail-heavy areas in Chicago such as North Michigan Avenue and the area around North and Clybourn Avenues on the North Side.
As a result, residents and neighborhood officials are being selective in terms of the businesses they want to see set up shop in the Loop area, Ald. Madeline Haithcock (2nd) said.
“The residents here don’t want a Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn that’s going to cause all sorts of traffic problems,” Haithcock said. “Those types of businesses draw too many people from outside the neighborhood.”
“I don’t think we need a Pottery Barn or Gap on every corner,” said Michael Kelly, president of Historic Printer’s Row Neighbors.
“Right now, most of the people around here feel that what we have is appropriate.
“There are some people who would love to see those stores right in the neighborhood, but most people are concerned about density,” he added.
Willing to commute
In fact, most residents of the neighborhood are willing to commute to retail-heavy districts.
“You can take a bus to the shopping areas along North Michigan Avenue or at North and Clybourn,” Kelly said.
The Loop resident often takes the CTA’s Red Line to the North and Clybourn shopping district, where he frequents retailers such as the Container Store, Whole Foods and Sam’s Wine & Spirits.
“Depending on what I buy, it can be a challenge bringing things home,” Kelly said. “So sometimes I’ll rent a car–maybe once a month–to haul things home.”
A growing number of Loop residents participate in car-sharing programs, which allows them to “stock up once a month at `big-box'” stores, Kelly said.
One major issue starting to percolate is parking, Haithcock said.
“Everyone now wants permit parking,” she said. “And we’re wrestling with street parking as more surface parking lots in the area start to disappear.”
One positive note, Haithcock said, is that most Loop residents drive less than other city dwellers.
“Most people here have one car–not two or three,” Haithcock said. “And a lot of people rent or share a car.”
Because of the lucrative demographics found in the greater Loop, Haithcock said, more large-scale retailers such as IKEA and Costco have expressed interest in opening a store. (The median income was more than $48,000, according to the 2000 U.S. census.)
“It’s great to get called by these people to talk about the area,” she said. “But we have to be careful about what type of development we do bring in.”
Business leaders said that residents may need to compromise more on allowing retail businesses into the area.
“There are obviously groups of residents and organizations that don’t want the congestion,” said Tommy Bezanes, executive director of the New South Association, a business organization, and owner of SRO Restaurant, which has been in the South Loop for 10 years.
“But without density, you can’t have all the goods and services you would like.”
Even big-box retailers may be a more welcome addition to the Loop neighborhood versus “empty railroad yards full of rats,” he said.
As of late last year, Target Corp. had a contract to buy property near Roosevelt Road and Clark Street and build a full-service, multilevel, 140,000-square-foot store that would include a grocery. There also would be surface parking for 500 cars.
Earlier in 2002, residents and community leaders had not been so open to the idea of other big-box retailers in the area because of congestion and parking concerns.
“People are worried about traffic and we want to work with the city to ensure as we develop properties that there is a reasonable focus on traffic,” said Andrea Peterson, president of the Greater South Loop Association.
“We’re pleased and excited to have Target here and how the site plan has worked out,” she added.
More service stores needed
Haithcock and others pointed out several areas where retail and other service-oriented businesses are starting to emerge in the greater Loop neighborhood.
“We’re especially getting more service-oriented businesses in the South Loop,” Haithcock said. “But we still need the Kinko’s, the coffee shops, the banks and the nice little grocery stores.”
“During the last couple of years, the amount of service businesses has increased and we’re catching up, from a neighborhood standpoint,” Kelly said.
“We now have a major Jewel outlet in the South Loop with an urban flair, and there’s been a lot of smaller retail businesses opening up on Wabash Avenue and Dearborn Street.”
A longing for more restaurants
Haithcock and others also noted that longtime business strips such as State Street are another example of where retail and service business is increasing.
“There is a good blend of businesses there, many which can be walked to,” Haithcock said.
In addition, Michigan and Wabash Avenues south of Roosevelt have been developing as a new restaurant row, with the addition of such establishments as Gioco, Opera and the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant.
“People would still like to see more restaurants here, especially those that aren’t so pricey and not as formal,” Peterson said.
As the Loop develops as a neighborhood, the mix of businesses is expected to grow and diversify, officials say.
However, the Loop’s characteristics won’t allow for the type of growth found in other areas of the city, Bezanes said.
Areas such as Clark or Halsted Streets or Lincoln Avenue have a physical landscape that “lends itself to a certain type of retail and service-oriented business strip,” he said.
“We don’t have the pedestrian-friendly strips that they do. We won’t have that type of density for a while.”
