On The Road
Development of oases along the Illinois Tollway system offers an unprecedented opportunities for retailers looking to capture motorists and commuters.
Michael Shields

Morning commuters stop at the Lake Forest oasis to get their morning Starbucks jolt.

Malls, strips, mixed-use, CBD storefronts…oases? While retailers continue to pursue traditional retail venues, many now recognize the value of identifying new avenues to increase sales and build brand awareness. Gaining ground in greater Chicagoland are the Illinois Tollway’s newly developed “oases.”

The Illinois Tollway system is expansive, extending north and south, due west, and northwest through Chicago’s suburban landscape, commercial districts and beyond. Throughout the year, millions of commuters take these roads to work; commercial vehicles transport goods into, out of and through the city; and travelers on long-distance interstate journeys pass through the metropolitan Chicago area.

Located at strategic points throughout this tollway system are seven oases, which, according to the Illinois Tollway Authority, welcome more than 30 million visitors every year. The visitors stop for gas, food, beverages, relaxation, shopping and, more often, to conduct business.

This broad network of oasis locations presents an outstanding leasing opportunity for a wide range of merchants, food operators and service providers. As the exclusive leasing representative for the system’s oases, Northern Realty Group, Ltd. is revving up its marketing program and introducing the seven locations to operators eager to take advantage of a huge and largely unrecognized market.  

More Than A Food Court

Most of the major national food chains with Midwest locations are familiar, at least to some extent, with the advantages of operating at Illinois’ oases. For other prospective tenants, it’s tempting to think of these locations primarily as large food courts. Certainly, the success of certain restaurant operators legitimizes the food court comparison, but it also obscures the underlying potential of the broader shopping experience.

Quick service operators like Panda Express and Subway have found success at the oases.

While the seven oases have much in common, each location has its own characteristics and differing customer profiles. All are under a master lease between the Illinois Tollway Authority and Los Angeles-based Wilton Partners. Northern Realty Group of Chicago was engaged by Wilton Partners.

In recent years, Wilton completed a $100 million renovation and modernization of each facility. Six are over-the-tollway pavilions, and all are now architecturally more appealing and, with greater height, much more visible to tollway travelers. The buildings are sleek steel structures with soaring glass curtain walls and bright, inviting interiors. Each oasis has from 18,000 to 20,000 square feet of retail space.

The Seven Locations

• Belvidere Oasis is situated near Rockford, Illinois, along the Northwest Tollway (Interstate 90).

• O’Hare Oasis is located along the north-south Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294) in suburban Schiller Park, Illinois, a highly industrial area with a substantial daytime population, as well as many multifamily buildings, just east of O’Hare International Airport.

• Hinsdale Oasis is situated further south along I-294, near the upscale, western suburbs of Hinsdale and Oak Brook.

 • Lake Forest Oasis, strategically located between downtown Chicago and Milwaukee on the Tri-State Tollway, counts many local residents from Lake Forest and other nearby, upscale northern suburbs among its customers. 

• Des Plaines Oasis is situated just a few minutes north of the O’Hare Airport along the Northwest Tollway I-90.

• DeKalb Oasis is located on the east-west Reagan Memorial Tollway (Interstate 88) and is the most recently constructed oasis. Although DeKalb Oasis is on the south side of the tollway, it does allow for easy access from the east and west directions of travel and benefits from the close proximity of Northern Illinois University.

• Lincoln Oasis (also known as Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis) sits at milepost 1 on the southern end of the Tri-State Tollway.

Five of the seven facilities date back to 1959, with the other two having opened in 1968 and 1975. But, while all have long histories, their strategic locations have never been maximized as retail locations. Today, with brand new designs, less than two years old, and greatly improved environments, the oases deserve a fresh new look by decision-makers at all the top national restaurant chains, as well as by real estate executives in retail categories that in the past might not have considered an oasis location.

New Reality

As the oases themselves have evolved, so too has the entire Illinois Tollway system. Demographic trends and how the tollway adapts will lead to more customers and more dollars spent. Consider:

• The number of drivers continues to increase.

• The number of vehicles on the tollways continues to grow.

• Suburban sprawl persists as the population grows.

• The Illinois Tollway keeps expanding, providing easier access to previously untapped markets.

• Tollways are both more easily accessed and more convenient to use as a result of the enormously successful I-Pass program.

What brings this rapidly expanding consumer base to oases?

• Excellent tollway signage, soon to become more uniform from oasis to oasis, builds awareness and creates the impulse for drivers to stop.

• Gas prices at Illinois’ oases are usually among the lowest in all of northern Illinois, giving cost-conscious drivers a good reason to choose an oasis.

• Restrooms are now larger, cleaner and better maintained than ever before.

• Free WiFi is available at every oasis.

• With more people on the road every year, drive times are slower drive times, causing people to stop more frequently. Cars need fill-ups more often, and vacationers, especially those traveling with kids, must stop often for food and restrooms.

• Because the facilities are more attractive today, people tend to stay longer, and longer stays add up to more spending.

In a nutshell, the news is all good for the restaurants and other retailers already open in or considering an oasis location. But there’s more.

It’s worthwhile to look at patron demographics from oasis to oasis. For example, at Lake Forest Oasis, a very high percentage of patrons during the non-peak vacation months are commuters. The location is approximately 45 minutes from downtown Chicago, meaning that many area residents arrive home late from work, leaving little time for meal preparation. It is believed that Lake Forest Oasis therefore would be a logical location for a food service offering home meal replacement, i.e. nutritious, prepared foods that can go right to the table or simply be heated quickly.

O’Hare Oasis and Des Plaines Oasis, both just minutes from one of the world’s busiest airports, might benefit from a shuttle service operator. To avoid dealing with a car at O’Hare, local air travelers could have family members drop them off at an oasis and board a shuttle bus directly for the airline terminal.

Such a convenience would add to the appeal of business centers, similar to those offered at United Airlines’ Red Carpet Club or American Airlines’ Admirals Club, where e-mail, faxing and related business services can be completed. More and more frequently, groups of business people congregate for staff and sales meetings. Other business travelers stop at an oasis simply to purchase a newspaper, magazine and cup of coffee and then take a relaxing break from a long drive. 

On the Horizon

In the few months since we assumed leasing responsibility for the oases, a number of new restaurant types and other retail categories have expressed interest. In addition to the quick-service restaurants that are oasis mainstays, our brokers are talking to sellers of higher-end ice cream parlors, a variety of other restaurants, food markets, pharmacies and service providers. 

Cross-promotion is an idea that appeals to some of these prospective tenants, and existing retailers too. For example, when one operator has locations at multiple oases, a frequent diner program could drive up sales, especially among regular long-distance travelers. 

Given the high traffic counts at Illinois oases, opportunities for main pavilion locations, special displays, sponsored events, and even temporary “pop-up” promotional efforts to create buzz about a new product or product line are very attractive.

Illinois Oases are 24/7 environments, giving tenants the ability to cater to early-morning and later-night commuters and travelers alike — whatever is the best road to ringing up sales.

Michael Shields is executive vice president of Chicago-based Northern Realty Group, Ltd.


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