Vacant Retail Space

Retail vacancies filling up in Orland...

That was the front page headline of this article in today's (12-04-08) Orland Park Prairie. In the article by Beth Krooswyk, commissioner Judith Jacobs is quoted. The reporter goes on to explain how 1 new restuarant will move into the Orland Park Square Plaza, and another existing business will move from an existing location into a larger location. No information is given on what new business will occupy the newly vacated location.

There is no reference to any facts or data to justify the headline. Also, we don't see any reference to the businesses that have recently closed, including businesses in the "new" Orland Crossings mall. In their haste to get this story to press, they failed to mention the opening of a new business, Main Street Real Estate, Inc., and yet they included the construction of a new, non-retail, training facility within an existing site.

Also, there is no mention of the many successful businesses that have already been driven out of the 143rd "Main Street Triangle" area, or the existing businesses in the Orland Plaza that the village is moving against using Eminent Domain (See SouthtownStar A5 December 03, 2008).

How much money has been spent to drive out these successful, tax paying businesses? Ace Hardware, Beatty Lumber, Davidson Cement, Chatham Rug, Painting Liquidators, Greer Landscaping, Quinn CPA and Brown Plumbing to name a few, could all still be contributing to the Orland Park tax base if they weren't forced out of our Village.

A local realitor responded that if Vacant Retail space is filling up, why is the Retail lease cost per square foot continuing to go down?

We are glad to hear of a new restaurant, and wish them success, and it is great to see a business grow into a larger facility. Hopefully, the businesses being impacted by the 104th Avenue construction will survive long enough to have a chance to grow as well. The Village agreed this past Monday to look into creating a sign to let people know these businesses are still operating and can be reached by an alternative route. This was after the Prairie printed an article discussing this problem with the affected businesses. (11-26-08 A1) Trustee Schussler held the article in his hand when he asked the board about a sign. We applaud trustee Schussler for his effort, but while the sign is considered, couldn't the Village have agreed to stop taking down the signs that the businesses were putting up themselves?

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