An unusual mixed-use development by Opus North, part of a national real estate company, is starting to have a large impact on downtown development in Burr Ridge.

Including seven buildings with retail, residential, office space and parking, the Burr Ridge VillageCenter on 20 acres is designed to replicate the atmosphere of an older downtown where there is a mix of various uses in buildings placed right up to the sidewalk.

J. Douglas Pollock, community development director/building commissioner for the village, said the Center is unique and has transformed Burr Ridge because there is not a stand-alone building, but rather a group of buildings.

Part of what makes the project unique, he noted, is the pedestrian-oriented style with two lanes of traffic designed to bring people into an area where the buildings are right up to the extra-wide sidewalks. This is surface parking in front of the retail stories, but there are also three parking decks at various locations in the 1,400-foot-long area.

The development is also unusual, according to Pollock, because it was completely financed by private sector money and did not involve creating a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, which local governments often use to encourage businesses to locate in a particular area.

The Village Center design is part of the nationwide lifestyle shopping movement which often includes just retail stores designed to be closer to parking, but includes fountains and other landscaping to provide a combination of features found in strip shopping centers and large malls.

But since the Village Center includes three different types of uses, Pollock said it is unusual and recreates the feeling of an older downtown.

That concept may be used for another block in the village across Burr Ridge Parkway. Those 15 acres are owned by TCF Bank and currently include a six-story,75,000-square-foot office building which has been there for about 15 years.

“We are still generating ideas about the TCF block and considering expanding the Village Center concept,” he said. “Ideas include more retail, more restaurants and entertainment businesses like a bowling alley. But nothing is final.”

Pollock said it is too soon to talk specifically about what might be done with that block because the village is determining what the impact of the Village Center is.

“We have a lot to digest on the development which had a grand opening in November. We don’t want to jump too soon, but we don’t want to be too late on going beyond that development.”

The initial impact of the Village Center has been positive not only for the new development, but the village official said it is expected to increase business at the existing County Line Square Shopping Center.

That nearby development includes 90,000 square-feet of retail space, with the Farmers Fresh Market the primary tenant at 25,000 square-feet. Other businesses include restaurants, a dry cleaner, a bank, a furniture store and a bakery.

It is too early to have sales tax numbers for the Village Center, Pollock explained, but a conservative estimate is that there will be hundreds of thousands of dollars in increases.

“The word on the street is that the businesses are doing well. The Cooper’s Hawk restaurant has had lines of people waiting to be seated on various days and at various times.”

An alphabetical list of businesses which have opened include Acorn, Aeropostale, Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, Banana Republic, Bath & Body Works, C&J Clarks, Chico’s, Claire’s, Coldwater Creek, Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant, Eddie Bauer, Gymboree, J. Jill, Limited Too, Lucy, New York & Company, Sunglass hut, Swoozie’s, Victor’s Secret, White House Black Market and Yankee Candle.

Coming soon are Jos. A. Bank, Kohler Waters Spa, Lenscrafters, Starbucks and Topaz Restaurant.

It is rare for the same retail center to have both an Ann Taylor store and an Ann Taylor Loft business, according to Scott Rolston, an Opus senior property manager located at the Burr Ridge site.

“I am pleased with the mix of stores in the 200,000 square-feet range here and how well they are doing since opening in November. Eighty percent of the first phase of retail (125,000 square-feet out of 153,000 square-feet) has been leased.”

The extension of I-355 has also helped by improving access to the center, said Rolston.

“Anytime that access is improved, it can do nothing but help business. It improves the ability of people to travel from greater distances to the Center.”

Sales of the office condominiums have also been strong, according to Rolston. Eighty percent of the 36,000 square-feet of space have been sold.

Sales for the residential units have also been going well. Sales started out in the mid-$300,000 range and went up to $1.2 million, according to Dee Dee Bren, sales manager for E.R. James Realty. Now the figures are in the $400,000 range and go up to $1.6 million. The size of the residential units ranges from 1,491 square-feet to 4,033 square-feet.

Forty one dwellings are still for sale out of a total of 194. Three of the four residential buildings have retail businesses on the first floor. The fourth has residential units on all floors. The other three buildings have a combination of retail, parking and offices.

Buyers include young professionals and empty nesters and everybody in between. About 60 percent of the buyers are from within a 10-mile radius, according to Bren. Some of the buyers include family members from two or three generations, she noted.

The Burr Ridge Village Center, which was designed by RTKL Architects (offices in Chicago and around the country) is unique within the Opus company, according to Mat Nix, a senior executive at the local office in Rosemont. Opus Architects and Engineers was also involved in the design.

“The company has other lifestyle shopping areas in different parts of the country, but the Burr Ridge development is unique in its sophisticated use of different product types,” Nix said. “This is one of the few projects anywhere done at this scale.”

Opus may not be stopping with Burr Ridge.

“We are pursuing the possibility of other lifestyle shopping developments. We are looking to apply the Burr Ridge Village Center model to other locations.”