Politics & Government

Just How Big is Touhy Marketplace?

Anchored by a Walmart Supercenter, Touhy Marketplace in Skokie is set on 15 acres of land. Village officials and developers were present at the site on Wednesday to celebrate its construction.

 

The construction site for Touhy Marketplace is massive. It’s 15 acres. That’s 653,400 square feet, or approximately 11 football fields, end zone to end zone.

Eleven.

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Anchoring the Skokie site will be a Walmart Supercenter, 150,000 square feet dedicated to selling produce, clothing, electronics, bed sheets, tools – you name it, they’ll probably have it.

All in all, there will be 195,000 square feet of retail space and plenty of parking.  Construction is set to be complete within 12 months, or spring of 2014.

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On Wednesday, large yellow construction trucks were laying the groundwork for Touhy Marketplace. It was a hot day, and cookies, lemonade and flyers were left underneath a tent for attendees involved in making the development a reality.

There were several representatives from Walmart, two trustees, village officials, developers, and bankers, among others, at the groundbreaking ceremony near the intersection of Touhy and St. Louis avenues in Skokie.

Peter Eisenberg of Clark Street Development, the group that’s spearheading the project, said nothing would have been possible without the efforts of village officials, such as Economic Development Coordinator Tom Thompson and former Corporate Counsel Pat Hanley, among others.

“This day has been a long time coming,” Eisenberg said to an audience of about 30. “This project will bring jobs, goods and services as well as revenue to the community.”

Touhy Marketplace will now replace what was once a vacant industrial area.

Kaitlin Wolf, Director of Operations for Walmart in Northern Illinois, said the Walmart Supercenter will be brightly lit and feature the most updated design.

“We will be hiring a little over 300 employees,” Wolf said.

The store will be located just outside of Chicago, which Walmart officials agreed would be beneficial for drawing customers beyond Skokie. The retail giant alone is said to generate approximately $1.1 million in sales tax revenue to the village, much of which will likely come from non-Skokie residents.

$8.1 million in sales tax revenue was generated from Old Orchard Mall from 2008 to 2009, or 40 percent of all sales tax revenue generated in the village. Further, about three-fourths of accounted sales at Old Orchard Mall are from non-Skokie residents.

What will be included in Touhy Marketplace

For starters, there will be plenty of parking, 17,000 square feet of small shops such as cell phone stores and fast food restaurants and a PNC bank with a four-lane drive thru. There's also two other spaces, however, occupants have yet to be named (see image above). 

Read our previous coverage –

  • Border Wars: Mariano's and Skokie's Economic Development
  • Skokie is Getting a Mariano's Fresh Market!
  • Nicor Contamination Cleanup Hits a 'Bump in the Road'
  • Walmart Could Bring $1.1M Per Year to Skokie
  • How Different Can Skokie Look in Two Years?
  • Traffic a Major Concern for Residents Near Proposed Super Walmart
  • Is Skokie Getting a Super Walmart?

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