East 39th Street Commercial Corridor Plan by Chris Devins

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SWOT ANALYSIS 11,200 cars per day at the center of the corridor. • Poor Streetscaping: Broken sidewalks, lack of a cohesive corridor “look”. • Hand painted signs: These signs give the corridor an unprofessional look. • Low Population Density: Loss of population with CHA project removal of 3200 units in Wells, the immediate trade area. • High Retail Float: $54M in Total Retail Trade and Food and Drink leakage in the half-mile trade area (more demand than supply). • Low Commercial Rents: Rents in the $16 to $23 per sq ft range attract lower quality commercial tenants. This could also be strength, helping to attract commercial tenants. Opportunities • Infill Development: Vacant lots provide an opportunity to “fill in” the area with development that stabilizes the neighborhood and increases population density. • Improved Transit: There is an opportunity to increase the frequency of bus trips on the #39 bus route and link the area’s existing CTA and Metra Lines with bus service. • Development of Key Intersections: To identify which intersections are best positioned for the future and to suggest appropriate usage mixes. Threats • Near-Term Low Population Density: Loss of 200,000 Chicago residents in the past decade, most of them African-American. • Nearby Competition: From 35th and 43rd retail strips, and from the Lake Meadows Shopping Center, which offers 500,000 square feet of retail. • Ecommerce: More and more products are being purchased on the Internet, calling into question the need for more retail. • Oversaturation of Retail Market: As cited above, over 1 Billion square feet of retail has been developed in the US since the year 2000. As stated earlier, by examining the corridor’s strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/threats in a SWOT analysis, it is possible to ascertain its “competitive advantage”, its market position and come up with an appropriate “Vision”. 28
Trends affecting Chicago’s existing corridors include a market preference for large format stores, a market preference for discount power centers with multiple large format stores, the anti-urban bias of many retailers, and the decline of traditional neighborhood anchors like department stores and grocery stores. Chicago has over 700 miles of retail strips. At least 40% of this retail space is vacant 14 . This indicates the need to convert some retail into other uses and to concentrate existing retail into “activity centers.” Activity centers are focal points of economic activity, planned for concentrations of compact development. Many existing Activity Centers have the capacity for new growth. There are three types of Activity Centers: • Center City •Mixed Use Centers • Industrial Centers Activity Centers are characterized by retail designed to serve the surrounding community and, in some cases the region, moderate (up to 22 units per acre) to high density (over 22 units per acre) and regional and neighborhood serving office space and civic uses such as urban parks, religious institutions and libraries. They are places with a diversity of uses 14 Source: UIC Land Use Planning Class that draw traffic from the entire city, with a significant pedestrian orientation and both day and evening uses. Successful examples of naturally occurring activity centers in Chicago that could provide a model for the development of East 39th street include Chinatown, the East Indian shops and restaurants on Devon Avenue and the Vietnamese restaurant/ shop cluster on Argyle. East 39th could establish an identity and position itself well into the future by returning to its past as a local neighborhood shopping center with development focused around specific intersections and by drawing in some of the average 31,000 Chicago White Sox Fans who exit US Cellular Field’s 39th street parking lots after home games. In the short term of 1-2 years, during the period before the Oakwood Shores and Metropolis Developments come online, a commercial market study shows fairly weak demand for commercial space. I therefore propose that policies in the near term consolidate and restrict retail uses to the area between Interstate 90/94 to the west and South King Drive, to the east for several reasons. 1. This node has an anchor in Phase 1 of the Metropolis Development and Roundy’s Grocery at the corner VISION of 39th Street and State, which will be completed by 2013. This action adds new retail space. 2. Residents of the 102 condominiums being built at Metropolis will be potential customers of its retail. 3. The area is near US Cellular Field’s 39th Street parking lot and the thousands of fans exiting each of 92 home games. 4. Interstate 90/94 exit at 39th street has a traffic count of 232,800 cars and trucks per day., meaning at least that many potential customers. Given the existing commercial market conditions, construction of new retail buildings to the east of King Drive is unlikely in the near term. I recommend improving the existing retail corridor with facade improvements to the buildings, coordinated signage, and new streetscape. VISION: Develop an anchored neighborhood retail district on East 39th Street serving local residents, commuters and Chicago White Sox Fans. This district will connect to and support the wider neighborhood and its amenities. 29
Page 1: East 39th Street Commercial Corrido
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Page 8 and 9: INTRODUCTION Street faces serious c
Page 10 and 11: PROJECT DESCRIPTION This plan’s p
Page 12 and 13: EXISTING CONDITIONS tio, resulting
Page 14 and 15: PRIMARY MARKET AREA The primary mar
Page 16 and 17: SPENDING POTENTIAL IN PRIMARY AND S
Page 18 and 19: SUPPLY & DEMAND ANALYSIS FOR HALF M
Page 20 and 21: RESTAURANT POTENTIAL Table 4 Restau
Page 22 and 23: DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY Oakwood Shores
Page 24 and 25: EXISTING LAND USE ON EAST 39TH STRE
Page 26 and 27: EXISTING LAND USE ON EAST 39TH STRE
Page 28 and 29: ACCESS As stated above, the East Pe
Page 30 and 31: CHICAGO WHITE SOX FACTS In 2009 the
Page 32 and 33: SAFETY In the many surveys that hav
Page 36 and 37: RECOMMENDATIONS Development of a co
Page 38 and 39: RECOMMENDATIONS supplies stores; al
Page 40 and 41: BILLBOARD IDENTITY CAMPAIGN Figure
Page 42 and 43: IMPLEMENTATION Enterprise Zone 2 Th

East 39th Street Commercial Corridor Plan by Chris Devins

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