State Street Mills

The Mills Corp. (Arlington, Va.), best known for developing huge regional outlet malls near major U.S. cities, has been selected by the city of Chicago to develop one city block.

According to a report in Crain's Chicago Business, Mills had proposed developing a long-vacant site at State and Randolph streets in the Loop as an international marketplace with upscale shops and public space.

“They were the most exciting team and they came up with a great vision for the block as a people-oriented place with new retail and branding concepts,” said Chicago planning commissioner Alicia Berg. “They don't have a cookie-cutter approach and were very responsive to working with us on developing a plan for the site.”

Crain's reports one potential tenant for the project is said to be a concept developed by Canyon Ranch, the exclusive spa company with resorts in Tucson, Ariz. and Lenox, Mass., which has joined Mills'team on the project. The city says Canyon Ranch is considering creating a new urban prototype spa at the site.

While both residential and office developments have been considered viable components of the project, Mills will focus first on creating a retail center on the site. “Right now we see the retail piece as the primary driver,” Berg said.

The site has been plagued by false starts, said Crain's. A plan considered last summer would have called for a department store, hotel and condominiums, but fell apart when developers were unable to obtain financing. Despite its high-profile location in the center of the Loop, the land has sat virtually vacant since the late 1980s.