From what I understand corner bakery left cause they raised the rent and wanted a higher percentage of sales-again I don't know this for fact, but, if this is the case what possibly can HP do to "help" property owners attract new tenants? As for Saks, IMHO a Bloomingdales or Nordstrom would be great-that Saks was aimed at the 1 percent of women who shop there- no mens department, and high end designer clothes-it was always empty whenever I went in there to just browse. I do know for a fact it was their lowest grossing store as women would shop online and take returns there..it was more of a return depot than a store. Restoration Hardware was more a museum than a store, they had very few things you could buy and carry out with you-and everything was highend....

If they could find trendy, hip, economically friendly vendors I think they'd thrive. How about a West Elm, CB2,or other mid-range retailer that mid income people shop at-

It is very simple- whjen the landlords ask for outrageous rents which their tenants cannot afford then the properties will go empty. There is nothing the city can or should do. It is the market at work. Rents will just have to come down. It all comes down to two words-greedy landlords.

What ever happened to the basic economic law of supply and demand? Let the market forces decide what businesses will work and which won't. The two cupcake shops proved the point that the market always is right.
The property owners want the city to help., but should that be the role of our government? As mentioned in the article, the primary role of the government should be zoning.
I feel they shouldn't be in the real estate business. I've owned a small retail business and got "taken" by a landlord who wanted money to break a lease when he already had the space leased. That may not be typical of HP property owners, but I didn't go to the town where my store was located for relief.
Besides long hours, and a heavy investment in both equity and sweat capital, I know how hard it is to maintain a business. And that was in the mid-1990s when the econoomy was robust. I shutter to think how tough it must be now for any retail business owner.

I would agree with the previous comments. The role of our govt is to maintain the city (roads, infrastructure, schools, parks, safety, etc) so that it is attractive to business owners and customers. If my house was on the market and not selling I wouldn't go to the city and ask that they find a buyer for me. Its up to me the owner to make my individual property attractive to potential buyers. A friend recently moved their lighting/design studio (in Chicago) because the future landlord offered a lower rent & benefits that it was worth the hassle to move. I've heard for years that HP landlords expect high "North Shore" rents when the actual business owners say its hard to attract & keep customers here as opposed to a town such as Geneva where they are drawing from all sides (no one lives to the east of us). This year I really tried to keep my gift buying local. I had a great time shopping in HP this Christmas season but I had to search for some gifts as the options were limited in the fun, quirky teenage type gifts. Style Shack, Francesca's, Table Compliments, Williams & Sonoma, Uncle Dan's, Dairy Queen all benefited. Perhaps HP has reached its saturation point in retail space. Perhaps the city govt should concentrate on finding a company to fill in Solo Cup space and the 41 corridor with non-retail, tax producing manufacturers.

Before running everyone else's businesses the City needs to do a better job running their own.

We'd be just fine if the City would stop overstepping their talents and boundaries and focus on their own responsibilities. They need to stop trying to do the landlords job as the City is not properly motivated, funded or skilled to do so. The City is allowing/enabling/encouraging property owners to coast-for-a-living rather than work for it. The results are abysmal, counterproductive and horrible uses of our tax dollars.

The City certainly has roles to play. First, they need to make far better decisions about under-parking, over-development and being a better host to businesses and customers. I give the City a "D-" on all those accounts ... and that's a big part of the problem.

I agree with Larry's comments. The city needs to perform the task for which they have been elected to do. Interfering with the "market" has be been, currently is and always will be a disaster. The "market" will determine what's best for the vacancy. If the landlord wants their property to sit empty for a long period of time, that's their right.
The city does not have the experience, expertise or knowledge to compete with the private marketplace.
Michael Rudman

I agree that the market place should decide. However, having proactive city involvement is certainly a positive especially relative to businesses that may not be desired.

Much more important is landlord involvement. It is their job to get out there and find tenants. Proactivity is a beautiful thing and if you have an asset that is costing you money rather than generating income we would hope you would be motivated to become even more proactive as a landlord.

Someone should contact the protein bar! http://www.theproteinbar.com/ We could use one in Highland Park - They have about 7 locations in the city and opening in oak brook and looking to expand .. Healthy, affordable, casual, delish, restaurant open for lunch and dinner there are lines down the block in the city :0) analisa@proteinbarchicago.com

If the landlord wants help he will stop by and visit government. The market should dictate what should be there not the dreams of city counsel.

Larry, has some good points. I also must admit he is probable the most pro-active landlord H.P. has.
I am not a big fan of the cities over involvement in business, and feel the market will sort this out. If rents are too high they will fall in time that’s just simple economics, if 4 gelato stores are too much some will go out of business. Yes the city will probably need to assist in replacing Sax’s that might be just too big of a box to fill organically. So my off the cuff opinion is, rents will probably need to be at pre 2002 rates, and someone simply needs to sell items that are needs not wants. A little more substance will go a long way, give people a need to go uptown and a cupcake is not a need.

City has done a poor job attracting businesses. One problem is that it is not their function to pick winners. What happened to Panera coming in? Months later still a for rent sign on the space the city said they were taking. Horrible job, almost criminal in my opinion, in the purchase and management of the HP Theater.
Also City seems to have to close of a relationship with the landlords. Some of the landlords that control lots of property don't care if space is empty but they are on all the business committees, Look at the office and retail space for rent by Imperial. Half empty offices and empty retail spaces, yet he wants to charge 2007 rents. Drove Corner Bakery out.

My belief, as part of the real estate sector, is that communities play an important role in marketing their communities and assisting landlords in identifying potential tenants. Go to any meeting of the International Council of Shopping Centers and you will see communities there, talking with potential tenants. Many of them invest heavily in these marketing effort, as sales tax is vital to these communities. That's the difference between marketing a commercial area and a residential area.

While I appreciate my friend Larry Hillman's remarks, I believe the best role a City can play is to be a good partner to the business community. I would agree with him, however, that the City can always do better. Beyond that, they need a progressive vision for the area, much like we did 30 years ago when the Downtown enjoyed a renisance under the leadership of Bob Buhai and Bob Piper, who was the community development director.

It is not, and should never be, the role of a City to buy and manage a business. I agree that the merchants have been hurt. I also believe they would have been much better off if the City did not buy the Theater. Its not like they were competing with other bidders. What other north shore suburbs buy and manage businesses? Talke a walk through downtown Lake Forest, Glencoe, even Deerfield. Much fewer empty stores and little interference by government.

Take a look at the vacant Corner Bakery in Highland Park .. and the vacant store on the corner of downtown Deerfieild. In HP Imperial Realty gets away with slapping up a few for rent signs and turning out the lights. The Deerfield property owner did an amazing display. The Corner Bakery buildings owner is on all sorts of Commissions in Highand Park ... that why we have problems. Get the walk-the-talk guy's on the boards and we'll get somewhere.

>> need a progressive vision for the area <<

Absolutely! But that's not the same thing as "a progressive vision for just making the property owners more money." Better is the solution ... not bigger.

Will turning Saks into a small shopping mall with affordable rents qualify as "a progressive vision". No? Then let it sit vacant for a few years.

Really? How about a hotel or a performing arts center or maybe even a multi screen theater or a cmmunity college branch or a dozen other possibilities. Saks is a top notch company. If they can make it (not even close) I'd not be thinking about fashion retail.

Mr Hillman, Somehow I have a feeling such conversion would make you quite unhappy.

Now, lets go through your list:

1)performing art center - have you ever heard of one at the corner of Sheridan and Elm?

2)Multi screen movie theater - well, I you aware there are couple of those within couple hundred yards, not even funny.

3)Community college branch - I don't even know where to start as I don't want to cause any pain to anyone.

4)Hotel - there was one in Highwood and the new owner is planning to convert part of it into grocery store. Hey, no one needs hotel period and this building is horrible fit.

Which brings us back to the logical: local shopping mall with affordable rental rates.
Wow, I am already visualizing tons of people from put of town come shopping here, sitting in our restaurants, going to the movies, bringing some tax dollas.

People, if we can we only teach RP owner to spell the word AFFORDABLE.

No worries Mr Hillman, Central Street won't suffer. Could be quite opposite.

You may be right. Maybe not. I think those ideas and others merit consideration and I'm not sure the properties you mention are at all similar to what I'm thinking about. But the bottom line (and focus of this thread) is the property owners ... Not the City ... should figure it out and do what they think best. They may need something from the City to make it happen and that's fine. But the property owners should be solving their problems rather than looking to the City to do so.

One way the city COULD help would be to provide these struggling businesses with guidance and advice on how to be more successful. Many of these small business owners dream big and have the guts to give it a go - but unfortunately they may not have a clue of how to run a business... And even those that do have a clue could use a reliable 3rd party perspective from time to time... Survey the town, provide feedback to the businesses based on actual customers, and then set them up with another local leader who can help them close their gaps... Do the restaurant owners really know that their prices are too high? Do the boutiques know they need more variety? Even the best businesses use consultants... Perhaps this is how HP could help. By the way - can someone please open a coffee shop in Ravinia - it's killing us...

Larry presents some interesting other uses of the Saks space. Frankly, while I am sure someone smarter than me will become really inventive, I would see it as a Mid to high-end multi residential build out as one of the few ways to make the numbers work. Not sure that retail is the answer there and most other multi-purpose uses could not support the nut in a rental enviornment.

Curiosity... With all the high taxes in HP..... What do the taxpayers say????

Unfortunately, I see with my own life.... When things go down.... Murphy is around.
Murphy's Law seems to take over.
People seek $$$$. When it's not there..... So goes the People....... Let's hope for a better 2013.

It is quite strange people are discussing if city should help or not (and you all know city can help in one way only - by reducing taxes, and it will never happen in HP), but everyone missed something here. These vacant properties in majority of cases are very weird, strange, hard to use and were originally taken over by the Imperial like guys as DISTRESSED PROPERTIES. And what have they done with the those properties? Nada. Yet they are asking the highest rates ever these days.
Let them lose as much as they can lose on this worthless square footage.
City should go after property owners instead of helping them. I imagine 20 years from now Saks would look as laughable as strange vacant properties on the 1st Street.