Mayor: Project still going forward

CREST HILL -- Tough times in the retail sector are making it more difficult for developers to lure tenants to area strip malls.

"There's just a little blip here in the economy, and everybody is feeling it," said Mayor Nick Churnovic.

For instance, a development along Weber Road called the Crossroads of Crest Hill has languished in recent months, and there were rumors the developer was having financial problems.

But that's not true, said Dan Tiberi, an associate with Gierczyk of Homewood, which is developing the 30-acre site.

"Basically, it is going to be finished," he said of the 43,578-square-foot project. "As far as financial problems or whatever, that's not the case. It was a different dispute I'm not allowed to get into.

"It had nothing to do with the city of Crest Hill," Tiberi added. "It was a separate issue that finally has been resolved."

Tiberi would say only that the stall was related to a "legal matter."

Interior work on a pizza restaurant and a nail salon should be done soon, he said.

Churnovic confirmed that Crossroads of Crest Hill is moving forward.

"Mr. Gierczyk has been a good neighbor, and he's working diligently to get tenants," Churnovic said. "Gierczyk is running into the same issue every developer in Will County is, there are a lot of commercial centers with a tremendous amount of vacancies."

That's one of the reasons Churnovic is heading to the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas later this month.

"It's my first year going, and I'll be going to push for Crest Hill," he said of the trip, which he will pay for with his own money.

Churnovic said he's going to do everything he can to attract retail to the city, especially the Weber Road corridor.

"It's challenging, but we're not giving up," the mayor said. "We're going to do everything we can to get the biggest piece of the (commercial) pie we can."

John Greuling, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development, also will attend the shopping center convention.

"As long as housing continues to slump, the retailers are pulling back ... or they're digging in," Greuling said.

Big-box retailers on the drawing board are being finished, but fewer new ones are being planned, Greuling said.

"It trickles down to the strip malls," he said.

But Churnovic is hopeful the economy will rebound soon. Once it does, the Weber Road corridor through Crest Hill could turn into the city's Golden Mile, Churnovic added.

The state is preparing now to sell 200 acres along the road that stretch south from Crossroads of Crest Hill to the new Menards at Caton Farm Road.

Crest Hill will have first dibs on the land after a median price is established. Then it would be offered to other municipalities. Finally, if there were no takers, the land would be sold on the open market, Churnovic explained.

"The city is hoping it will be sold to a developer," Churnovic said.

Churnovic said Crest Hill wants to see a good mix of office condos, commercial and residential along the road. Residential development is necessary to provide customers for the businesses.

"Developers today need rooftops to make commercial work," Churnovic said.