Amazon is sizing up a massive new footprint in Orland Park, with plans on file for a single-story retail center on a 35-acre parcel at the southwest corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road, village officials announced over the weekend. The concept would replace the former Petey’s II restaurant and roll groceries, general merchandise, and online order pickup into one sprawling operation. Village leaders say the project could pump significant sales tax dollars into municipal services and future capital work. The proposal is set for its first public airing when the village Plan Commission meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
What Amazon Is Proposing
In the special use permit application, Amazon describes a roughly 225,000-square-foot, one-story building wrapped by about 837 parking spaces and seven loading docks, designed to handle both walk-in shoppers and a heavy stream of pickup traffic, as reported by NBC Chicago. The narrative says the store would stock groceries and general merchandise and could add on-site dining or other accessory services, but it is not pitched as a regional distribution hub.
Where It Would Go
The project targets the long-vacant former Petey’s II site at 15900 S. La Grange Road, a roughly 35-acre property that has been sitting idle as traffic has boomed along the corridor, Patch reports. Plans show five outlots along the frontage and several acres reserved for landscaped open space. The parcel sits near the busy Costco complex and inside a cluster of redevelopment where officials have been talking up road and access upgrades for years.
Review, Public Input, And The Mayor’s Take
The Plan Commission is slated to take its first public look at the permiton Tuesday, and any recommendation could then move on to a publicly noticed Village Board hearing, according to NBC Chicago. “When a global retailer of this scale is considering investment in Orland Park, it sends a strong signal about the vitality of our community and the strategic importance of this corridor,” Mayor Jim Dodge said in the village’s release cited by the station.
Traffic, Jobs, And The Bottom Line
Village officials say the concept carves out separate access points for regular shoppers and delivery vehicles, a layout intended to keep turning movements cleaner and safer at an already busy intersection, and early projections suggest sales tax generated by the store could help pay for an extension of Ravinia Avenue, Patch reports. The buildout would bring a wave of construction jobs, followed by long-term retail positions, while still holding several acres as open space and folding stormwater management features into the site plan.
What To Watch Next
Tuesday’s Plan Commission session is expected to serve as the first formal public hearing on the project, with the Village Board set to weigh any recommendation at a later, publicly noticed meeting. The application packet and agenda are posted online for residents who want to dig into the details of the Southwest Regional reports. Planners are likely to tidy up lingering details such as the exact building size, which appears as about 225,000 square feet in some documents and roughly 229,000 in others, and to field questions about traffic mitigation and how quickly construction could start if the plan gets the green light.
