Jeweler C.D. Peacock Plans Huge Expansion at Suburban Mall

C.D. Peacock plans to open what it’s calling one of the nation’s largest watch and jewelry stores in the Chicago suburbs this fall.

The luxury jeweler will expand its flagship location at the Oakbrook Center mall into a 20,000-square-foot “mansion,” complete with a lounge, restaurant and VIP rooms, the Chicago Business Journal reported.

“The investment in our flagship mansion at Oakbrook Center — where 20 million visitors annually spend over 1 billion dollars — is a natural choice as consumer lifestyles and spending shift to the suburbs,” said C.D. Peacock vice chairman Steven Holtzman in a statement. “Open space, eclectic restaurant offerings and ample free parking combine to provide the perfect backdrop for our new location, which will redefine the way consumers shop for luxury.”

The retailer, which specializes in luxury jewelry and watches from brands such as Cartier, Rolex and Mikimoto, operates two other locations, at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and the Old Orchard Mall in Skokie.

As C.D. Peacock leans into the suburban retail market, other parts of Chicago’s shopping scene are experiencing a revival as well, as Covid cases continue to fall from a winter peak.

Retailers are heading into Bucktown and Wicker Park, in part because of elevated rents in the trendier West Loop neighborhood, and commercial property investors have taken notice of a drop in vacancies.

“The investment sales market is as hot as I’ve ever seen it,” Marcus & Millichap’s vice president of investments, Mitchell Kiven, told The Real Deal this week. “It’s incredibly active right now, everything is getting multiple offers.”

Net rents in those neighborhoods top out at $70 per square foot, as opposed to closer to $100 in the West Loop, according to Chris Irwin, vice president of retail sales at Collier’s. Landlords are also offering more flexible lease teams instead of requiring five-year minimums.

In suburban Oak Brook, retail rents are also expected to fetch $70 to $75 per square foot a year, exclusive of property taxes, Paul Bryant, an agent with Chicago-based Mid-America Real Estate, told TRD on Friday.

Mid-America has a multi-tenant retail building set for construction just east of Oakbrook Center, and Bryant said he expects to fetch those rates.

“In this situation, I think we’ll get it. It just doesn’t exist to have small shop retail space right across from Oak Brook mall,” he said.

[CBJ] – Sam Lounsberry