Fashion Outlets of Chicago


Fashion Outlets of Chicago is an enclosed outlet mall located at Balmoral Avenue and I-294, one-half mile east of O'Hare International Airport, in Rosemont, Illinois. It opened on August 1, 2013 taking approximately $250 million to develop. The outlet mall contains more than 150 stores that range from luxury to causal. Due to the mall's proximity to O'Hare International Airport, it is frequented by travelers. To service travelers, visitors are able to shop at the mall and visit an area in the facility to print tickets and check their luggage directly to O’Hare Airport.

History

AWE Talisman and Macerich co-developed the mall, which includes outlet locations of upscale retailers such as Gucci and Giorgio Armani. Grand opening ceremonies were held on August 1 through 4, 2013.
It is the first fully enclosed mall to open in the Chicago metropolitan area in over 20 years. The mall comprises 530,000 square feet, with Bloomingdale's Outlet, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, and Forever 21 as the anchor stores.

Extension

When the structure was built, there was an 18,500 square foot digital LED display facing towards I-294.
In May 2015, Macerich proposed an expansion plan to extend the Fashion Outlets of Chicago. The plan included the demolition of the Rosemont Theatre and rebuilding it elsewhere. The reason for the expansion is that in 2014, Rosemont received $13.4 million in state sales-tax revenue whereas they generally receive around $5-$6 million a year prior to the construction of the mall. They hope with the expansion of the mall, the revenue will increase as well. The plan is to expand the mall by about 300,000 square feet. Balmoral is also expanding and the construction is planned to end by October 31, 2015. The Balmoral plan is widening Mannheim Road and connecting Balmoral with Bessie Coleman Drive which is west of Mannheim near the international terminal of O’Hare.

Accomplishments/ Awards

In March 2015, the owner of the Fashion Outlets of Chicago announced that it was selected as the 2014 Best Factory Outlet Center in the world at the MAPIC Awards. The mall was the recipient of the ICSC's 2014 U.S. Design and Development Gold.
As of September 2015, Macerich announced that the company has achieved the #1 ranking in the U.S. Retail Sector according to the scores published by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark.