In The Middle Of Success
A look at IBT Group’s recent and ongoing retail projects in the Midwest.
Katie Foxworth

In northwest Indiana, IBT Group recently opened Valparaiso Walk, which is anchored by Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy and Dress Barn.

In Chicago, Loop residents are in need of more services-oriented retail, according to Gary Pachucki, founder and principal of IBT Group. To meet that demand, IBT has proposed an 800,000-square-foot mixed-use project called Metro 290, which will break ground in late 2006 or early 2007 with a variety of services-oriented, entertainment and fashion retail tenants. Leasing is currently underway.

“We’re working on a number of letters of intent right now,” Pachucki says. “Of this 800,000 square feet, we anticipate about 270,000 square feet of retail and then a housing component.”

Located on 4 acres with direct accessibility and visibility from the 290 interchange, Metro 290 promises to be dense and vertical, in keeping with the highly packed density of Chicago’s West Loop. Housing abounds in the area, and now residents will have a place to walk to for basic retail services and entertainment. The area is also pedestrian-friendly due to its proximity to the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“When you look at all the housing that’s occurring in the West Loop, there’s really no services for the residential base, so that’s really what this provides,” Pachucki says of Metro 290. “It’s literally a 20-minute walk from here to the heart of the Chicago Loop. So you can take the El or you can walk. That’s why this project is very unique.”With its direct access to the city, 100,000 people in its daytime trade area, visibility to 200,000 cars per day, and 25,000 students who reside across the street at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Metro 290 promises to be a win-win situation for both IBT and West Loop residents. “The opportunity to participate in a project that provides shopping, entertainment and fashion in one location currently is unavailable in this market,” Pachucki says.

In Altoona, Iowa, IBT Group is underway on a more conventional retail development, a 160,000-square-foot strip power center called Altoona Walk. “We hope to break ground later this summer and then deliver in the spring of ’07,” Pachucki says.

IBT Development’s Fox Valley Retail Walk in Aurora, Illinois.

Pachucki explains IBT’s general development philosophy. “We look at communities that have solid growth, where we see the potential for national credit tenants, where you can create an attractive shopping environment,” he says.

And IBT Group knows a thing or two about national credit tenants. The company has maintained long-standing relationships with some of the nation’s most well known and respected big box retailers, including Best Buy, Linens ‘n Things, Bed Bath & Beyond and Old Navy. Relationships with these key tenants have undoubtedly helped to guide the success of IBT Group’s shopping centers.

“Our success is wholly based on delivering projects that are successful for our partners, and since we have completed multiple deals with [these retailers], it would be fair to say that there is a direct correlation between our mutual success,” Pachucki says.

IBT Group is also working on projects in Arizona, Iowa and New Mexico. Pachucki says the Phoenix project is residential-based while the projects in Iowa and New Mexico are both power centers. Pachucki anticipates IBT Development will expand its geographic reach even farther over the next few years.

“We look for opportunity everywhere and people in the industry around the country are starting to realize that we deliver on our promises and more and more people want to work with developers that deliver results rather that promises,” Pachucki says. “We also want to show tenants and partners that we can service their needs anywhere they have a requirement — not just where it’s convenient for us.”

IBT Group was founded in 1999 and specializes in the financing, leasing, developing and construction of retail projects throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Western United States. Projects range from build-to-suit or single-tenant net-lease transactions to regional power centers. IBT Group also has an affiliate company, IBT Asset Management, which is a commercial asset management company providing professional services to IBT Group throughout the development process, construction, ownership and sale of each IBT-built property. IBT Asset Management also provides asset and property management services on a fee basis to independent third-party investors and to those investors who purchase IBT-built properties.