The developer looking to construct a mix of residential and retail space along Prospect Avenue in downtown Mount Prospect held a second open house Oct. 10 at a completed development in Des Plaines, to show the public the various amenities one of the new Mount Prospect apartment buildings will include.
Developer Nicholas & Associates held the meeting at its newly constructed luxury apartment building Buckingham Place on Northwest Highway in Des Plaines.

“The purpose of the open house at that location was to give people an idea of all the amenities that will occur at the eight-story proposed apartment building for Maple Street Lofts, in terms of the individual spaces and overall feel of the community,” Chris Coleman, vice president of development for Wingspan Development Group, a company within Nicholas & Associates, said.

Published in The Latest News

Hoffman Estates, Ill.— Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. A $134 million debt payment was due today.
Eddie Lampert will step down as Sears chief executive, but will remain the company’s chairman.
The Hoffman Estates-based company oversees both Sears and Kmart-branded department stores. The company has negotiated $300 million in senior financing from its lenders and is also in the process of negotiating a $300 million loan with ESL Investments Inc., which is Lampert’s hedge fund.
“While we have made progress, the plan has yet to deliver the results we have desired, and addressing the company’s immediate liquidity needs has impacted our efforts to become a profitable and more competitive retailer,” says Lampert. “The Chapter 11 process will give [Sears] the flexibility to strengthen its balance sheet, enabling the company to accelerate its strategic transformation, continue right-sizing its operating model and return to profitability.”
Sears and Kmart stores will remain open for business, but the company plans to close 142 unprofitable stores by the end of the year. Liquidation sales at these stores are expected to begin shortly. This is in addition to the previously announced closure of 46 unprofitable stores that is expected complete by November.
Over the last five years, the company has lost about $5.8 billion, according to the New York Times. Over the past decade, it shut more than 1,000 stores. As of the filing, Sears has approximately 700 remaining stores and 68,000 employees, according to media reports.
“Occasionally a retailer can succeed by downsizing,” says Rick Scardino, principal and retail veteran with Lee & Associates of Illinois. “Possibly a successful 40,000-square-foot Sears store is trapped in an 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot store. Sears could then lease the space to a synergistic tenant, like what Aldi is doing with some of the downsized Kohl’s stores.”
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is serving as legal counsel; M-III Partners is serving as restructuring advisor; and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC is serving as investment banker to Sears.
On Friday, Oct. 12, the company’s stock price closed at 41 cents per share, down sharply from $5.99 per share one year ago. The company’s five-year high was $48.60 on Nov. 11, 2013.
— Kristin Hiller ​