Start 16: The Brickyard
Cost: $110 million (tie)

For 25 years the Brickyard Mall symbolized the no-nonsense traits of merchandising in a middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Anchor tenants were in the midline to discount range: J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward and Kmart stores and a Jewel-Osco supermarket. Countless specialty retailers were available in enclosed buildings with temperature-controlled environments. And, a sea of concrete guaranteed a parking spot for practically everyone.

But the 49-acre site at Diversey and Narragansett streets was in need of a revamp when all the anchors but Jewel-Osco closed shop.

Key design ideas influenced partly by city guidelines on urban retailing are steering construction. The principles aim an ensuring the mall's suitability to its location and its feasibility after reopening as The Brickyard.

For instance, some of the 11 new structures, especially those with multiple tenants, will be located near the streets. The buildings are friendlier to the street when they align near it, rather than when they are pushed to the back of the site.

Masonry and cast stone will dress all sides of the new buildings for a solid look that reflects the neighborhood. Storefront windows and doors will be on multiple facades.

Only surface parking will be available. Gone will be the deck parking atop the existing Jewel-Osco and the parking spaces near the streets that required a hike to reach the stores.

New Anchors

Large-format structures will be used for the new anchors in the open-air, "power-center" format. There will be a 143,700-sq.-ft. Lowe's home-improvement store, a 143,100-sq.-ft. Target department store, a replacement 64,565-sq.-ft. Jewel-Osco and a 30,000-sq.-ft. Marshalls home fashions outlet.

About 55 stores are expected to open, and there will be 2,300 parking spaces.

The total mall area, about 600,000 sq. ft., represents a decrease of about 280,000 sq. ft. from the previous shopping center, but the shrinkage is mostly attributable to the elimination of the deck parking.

The mall will retain its two tiers, with units on both the upper and lower levels, and a retaining wall between them. Roads will connect the levels, which differ in elevation by about 30 ft.

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