Graycor completes Mellody Farm retail buildings

VERNON HILLS - Graycor Construction has completed the retail portion of Mellody Farm, a retail and residential mixed-use development in Vernon Hills for developer and owner Regency Centers.

The retail development of Mellody Farm consists of 12 individual one-story slab on grade retail buildings, nine of which were constructed by Graycor. The 28-acre project is the first upscale, open-air, regionally located shopping and dining destination in Lake County.

Mellody Farm is located at Milwaukee and Townline Roads, an intersection with more than 80,000 cars passing by each day. Oakbrook Terrace-based Graycor completed the ground-up construction of the single-story retail buildings, the expansion of existing roadway on both Milwaukee Road and Townline Road, coordination of all affected utilities, grading and utility stubs for the residential portion of the project. The project consisted of on-site work including rough grading and utility stubs for the residential parcel, site work and building pads for five additional buildings and modification of the existing detention pond to the east.

The center's 270,000 square feet of retail space are anchored by Whole Foods, REI, Nordstrom Rack and HomeGoods. Its 20-foot wide walkways are interspersed with artistic elements, and shoppers can access the center via the Des Plaines River Trail's new at-grade multimodal path. Its first tenants took occupancy in mid-September and developers expect the center will be more than 95 percent occupied by the fall.