The Final Two Sears Stores In Chicago To Close Will Be Redeveloped
Tucker Development is giving two Chicago Sears stores that have seen better days a new lease on life. Tucker and Seritage Growth Properties entered a partnership to redevelop the Six Corners Sears store on the city's Northwest side, and a vacant Sears store at Harlem and North avenues in the West Side Galewood neighborhood.
The Galewood Sears at 1601 North Harlem closed in September. The Six Corners store at the intersection of Cicero and Milwaukee avenues and Irving Park Road will close in July after a nearly 80-year run. Tucker released renderings of its plans for the Galewood store, calling for a mix of retail, loft-style apartments and a performance space.
Any future plans for the Six Corners Sears will need to be pass the muster of Alderman John Arena (45th) and area business groups. A coalition of groups and Arena drafted an economic master development plan for Six Corners in 2013 that has led to a gradual turnaround in what used to be Chicago's largest commercial district outside of downtown.
Tucker Development has history in Six Corners. The firm built Marketplace at Six Corners, a 344K SF shopping center adjacent to the Sears store, in 1996 and sold it two years later. Seritage Growth Properties has found success leasing vacant Sears stores to other retailers or repositioning them. AMC Theatres is repositioning part of a Sears store in Orland Square Mall into a 10-screen multiplex.
