Live theater, shops planned for CityPark

June 15, 2000
Lincolnshire Review
By Jason Meisner

Village trustees on Monday approved construction plans for the final two sites at Lincolnshire’s CityPark development, with developers promising a cutting edge facility that will include three high-end restaurants, a live theater and retail and office space.

“Everything about this development is very upper-crust,” said Scott Greenberg, president of Environmental Community Development Company spearheading the CityPark project.

“The only way this works is if people come to spend a lot of money, and they’re not going to do that is the place looks tacky…there’s too many schlock places to shop around here already.

While Lot 5 will harbor a 70,200 square foot office building, Lot 6 will consist of a two-story “restaurant, retail and theater experience.” The seven buildings in Lot 6 will total 78,300 square feet.

The new construction will form the Northeast border of the CityPark complex, stretching along Aptakisic Road and Milwaukee Avenue. The Lot 5 office building and connected parking facility will be a the center of the complex along Parkway Drive.

Though particular restaurants aren’t set in stone, Red Robin Restaurant, a national gourmet hamburger chain, will make its entry into the Chicago area. Also, reportedly Chart House, an upscale seafood restaurant has signed on as has Starbucks Coffee and either an Italian of French restaurant. A day spa and a live theater are targeted for the second floor.

To add to the experience, music will be piped in on the patio, sidewalks and perhaps out into the parking lot, Greenberg said. Similar plans already have worked in outdoor shopping centers such as Old Orchard mall. “We want people to talk, to spend time enjoying themselves,” Greenberg said. “If they’re sitting outside enjoying an ice cream or cappuccino, the music will encourage (conversation.)”

The CityPark plan also includes ambitious landscaping with over 300 trees, shrubs and plants proposed for the site. Evergreen trees and shrubs will ensure that the landscape remains green year-round, while spring bulbs and perennials such as roses, pansies and mums will provide bursts of color in the Spring, Summer and Fall, said John Ryan, the landscape architect for the project.

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