The Outlets At Springfield

Dirt, tall grass, a trailer. This is what the site for the outlets at Springfield along I-72 looks All that molts our tour's destination for a lot of people. Petty Burns is an economics professor at UIS. The one the stores will open, however, is a mystery. The outlets at Springfield website says, a target date of Spring 2014 for its grand opening. Because that's not the case, we try to find out the new target date. The city's communications director, Nathan Michalic, didn't get back to us. Ward 6 Alderman, Corey Job, whose district includes this area, thinks 2015. But Mayor Mike Houston, in an interview last month on ABC News Channel 20'sister station, Fox, Illinois, said this. They have taken building permits. So they are in the process right now of starting construction. They will have a groundbreaking here very, very shortly. To add to the confusion, Springfield director of economic development, Mike Farmer, said this when asked recently if he knows when it will open. No, I don't. We reached out to both Legacy Point Development Company and Global Outlet Management, who are working on this project, who neither returned our calls. Much of the blame for the delay goes to a bad construction season during the winter. But even before the winter, this site didn't look much different. So we asked, could something else be plaguing this development? A lot rides on the economy and the slow recovery that we're having affects cons And that's the first thing a retailer would look at. The key date now is November, at least from the city's perspective. Holiday shopping season. The more sales, the more sales tax we get. In Springfield, Andrew Hansen, ABC News Channel 20.