Deerfield's Empty Big Boxes Are Being Pitched as Places to Stay Awhile

Every serious proposal for Deerfield's vacant commercial space this year has the same goal. It wants to keep you on site for an hour or more. A youth sports training hub for the former Hobby Lobby and The Dump buildings at Deerbrook. A large nail bar a few doors from Jewel-Osco. A golf simulator studio in Deerfield Square. A mixed-use campus on the cleared Walgreens headquarters land, whose developer wants people to "come and stay awhile."

None of these plans is open yet, and the biggest one has not formally entered the Village approval process. Still, the people behind them have explained their reasoning in public meetings and interviews. That reasoning says more about Deerfield's commercial future than any single tenant announcement.

The Deerbrook Pitch Started With a Problem the Owners Named Themselves

On May 14, 2026, the Deerfield Plan Commission heard a presentation on reusing the south end of Deerbrook Shopping Center. The center's current owner is Core Acquisitions. Its representative Brad Joseph told commissioners he grew up in Deerfield. He also said the center's existing tenants struggle because nothing there draws shoppers from beyond the immediate area.

The proposed fix comes from Hall Equities, which was under contract to buy the former Hobby Lobby and The Dump properties. Its new business unit, National SportsMall Realty, builds what Mark Hall of Hall Equities described as "a shopping center of sports training." It puts independently owned training businesses together under one roof. The first location is in Walnut Creek, California, in a former newspaper printing plant.

The original buildings would stay standing. Ch. Bromberg confirmed the plan repurposes Hobby Lobby and The Dump rather than tearing them down. In the minutes, the size was close to the California site at 230,000 square feet. By late August, the developer's website listed Deerfield as a "Coming Soon" Phase 1 project at 196,000 square feet.

How a Training Hub Is Supposed to Fill a Shopping Center

Hall explained why the model works for a shopping center. Training brings families back a few times a week. Parents drop children off for 40 to 60 minutes, and that gap is supposed to send them into the stores next door. Deerbrook already has a grocery anchor, and the team listed being next to "neighborhood grocery-anchored retail" as one of the things it looks for in a site.

Here is what the team described to commissioners for the first phase:

• Initial sports: soccer, gymnastics, baseball and softball, swimming, volleyball, taekwondo, basketball, yoga and sports performance, plus food and beverage.
• Building changes: an expansion behind the Hobby Lobby building to fit basketball, and a pool, which the team called an important "feeder tenant."
• Parking and drop-off: use of the existing underground garage with a new elevator at the rear, and a drop-off hub in front of The Dump building.
• Hours: opening around 7 to 8 a.m. for pre-K activities, the busiest hours from 3 to 9 p.m., and adult leagues until midnight. The team also hoped basketball tenants would host tournaments 46 weeks a year, with birthday parties in the afternoons.

Commissioners asked how this would affect what already exists nearby. Commissioner Stolman asked whether local businesses such as Rootz would be invited to join. The team said all its California tenants came from within about 10 miles. Ch. Bromberg raised traffic for the apartments behind the property. Commissioner Schulman called it a potentially great public amenity, but he flagged parking ratios for a later phase. That later phase could add hospitality, retail and an onsite academy.

The Smaller Bets Follow the Same Logic

At the other end of Deerbrook, the Village approved a 6,858-square-foot Gloss Nail Bar at 92 S. Waukegan Road, between Marshalls and Jewel-Osco. The Village Board adopted the zoning text amendment and special use ordinances on April 20, six ayes to none. A nail appointment fills a block of time, much like a training session does. As of early October, Gloss's Deerfield location page still says "Opening soon."

In Deerfield Square, the former Gracie Barra space at 710 Robert York Avenue, Unit C, is proposed for Back Nine Golf. It would be a 2,554-square-foot simulator studio with up to four bays. The proposal asks for 24/7 member access, daytime-only access for nonmembers, no alcohol and a 17-person maximum. At its September 10 prefiling, the Plan Commission waived a traffic and parking study. Those minutes set the public hearing for October 8. The posted agenda for that date does not list Back Nine, so the hearing date is still uncertain.

Two smaller stories this year show how hard grab-and-go traffic is to build in Deerfield. The Village gave Pawan and Sangeeta Sharma a one-year lease to run KaVe Café, a weekday-morning coffee and snack stand at the downtown Metra station. The term runs from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027. By April, the owners said that after three months commuter foot traffic was too low. The Village cut the rent from $500 to $250 a month to keep the stand going. Separately, Guzman y Gomez announced on May 22 that it was closing its entire U.S. operation, including its Deerfield restaurant. That decision was made at the company level, well above any one storefront.

Lake-Cook Road's 37.5 Acres Are on a Longer Clock

The largest site in town follows the same thinking. Shorewood Development Group, based in Buffalo Grove, paid $13.1 million for the 37.5-acre former Walgreens headquarters at 1411–1435 Lake-Cook Road. The previous owner, Orion Properties, had already demolished all six office buildings. In May, founding partner and CEO Louis Schriber III told the Daily Herald:

"Our goal is to develop a project where people have a reason to come and stay awhile."

Shorewood is negotiating with possible multifamily, healthcare and fitness users and has not named them. The timeline calls for site infrastructure and pads for two to three anchor tenants starting in 2027, with first phases opening in 2028 or later. The firm's recent Buffalo Grove work shows what a Shorewood project looks like. At the former Dominick's site in Chase Plaza, at Arlington Heights and Lake-Cook roads, the planned tenants are a Club Studio fitness center and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Where Each Project Stands as of October 4

The pitches are consistent, but they are moving at very different speeds:

• SportsMall at Deerbrook: early concept. The Village planner's May memo says the presentation was for feedback and expressly was not a prefiling conference. No closing on the buildings, signed tenants or opening date has been published. Hall said timing depends on getting key tenants under contract. In late August, the developer's site was still recruiting tenant operators.
• Gloss Nail Bar: approved by the Village Board on April 20. The location page says "Opening soon."
• Back Nine Golf: prefiling done September 10. The public hearing date is uncertain.
• Former Walgreens campus: sold and cleared. Site work is targeted for 2027.
• KaVe Café: open on weekday mornings at the Metra station under the reduced rent, with its lease running through January 1, 2027.

The Village of Deerfield Agenda Center posts the Plan Commission and Village Board minutes where each of these will appear next.

What's on the Calendar Before Any of It Opens

For now, the places you can actually spend an evening this fall are civic ones, run by the Village, the Park District and the Patty Turner Center:

1. Halloween Hoopla Family Fun Fest, Friday, October 16, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Sachs Recreation Center, 455 Lake Cook Road. It has a trick-or-treat trail and a DJ. Admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door, and children under three get in free. Details are on the Deerfield Park District calendar.
2. Grand Oktoberfest at the Patty Turner Center, 375 Elm Street, Wednesday, October 21, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Register by October 14.
3. Deerfield Field of Honor, November 9 to 13 at Jewett Park, 836 Jewett Park Drive. It is a free public display of 500 American flags under the theme "Honoring Our Veterans." You can sponsor a flag for a veteran or personal hero, and proceeds go to Midwest Veterans Closet and Lake County Honor Flight. The Village announcement has the details.
4. Winter Market, Saturday, December 5, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Patty Turner Center. It is free and includes crafts and retail vendors, nonprofits, food, entertainment and children's activities.

The Village's 2026 public art program also plans to show selected juried works in Deerfield public buildings for a year, following its September 9 artist open house.

What eventually fills Deerbrook and the Lake-Cook corridor will change how the south end of town works day to day. If you own nearby and want to know where your home stands while these plans move forward, Haylee Stone can walk you through it. Start with your instant home valuation.