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Northbrook, IL - The Society of the Divine Word and the Techny Land Development office today issued its mid-year update highlighting the progress of the residential, retail, commercial and recreational developments on the Society's Techny property as home improvement giant Lowe's prepares for its grand opening on July 1.

"The achievements so far this year are nothing short of spectacular." said the Reverend Walter Bracken, SVD, Chairman of the Techny Land Committee. "We are thrilled to see our efforts to foster appropriate developments on the Society's land is coming to pass." The Society has actively sought to promote mixed use of its land to bring maximum benefit to the community. "Local residents will benefit greatly as the new retail developments in Willow Festival and Willow Festival Annex open their doors and Five Seasons Country Club and Willowhill Golf Course continue to maintain spectacular recreational facilities," added Fr. Bracken.

"We want to provide area residents with an update of our progress. We want them to be aware of who is coming to town and when," said Fr. Bracken. Unlike most developments in the area, the Society of the Divine Word, an international order of Roman Catholic priests and brothers, retains ownership of the land it originally acquired over a century ago. The land is leased to developers who construct the various projects.

"For many decades, this property was farmland that helped support our missionary work around the world," said Fr. Bracken. "Today we are leasing our land so it can continue to support our work, from support for our inner-city parishes here in America to ministering to AIDS victims in Africa."

Northbrook Village President Gene Marks also applauded the progress being made. "It has taken some time to find the right recipe for success here, but it was worth the wait to see the projects come together so well," Marks said.

As of June 1, 2007, nearly 350,000 square feet of retail space has been leased at the Willow Festival development at the corner of Waukegan and Willow Roads. Several major stores are already open and most of the others will be open by the summer and fall.

Since its original decision to lease its land to developers, the Society of the Divine Word has maintained high standards to ensure that the use of its land would be compatible with the local community and the presence of the Society's Chicago Province headquarters adjacent to the developed area.

"We always sought to have each phase of development fit in with Northbrook's future vision," Fr. Bracken said. "We have corporate, retail, residential and recreational uses here. But we also continue to be neighbors. This is our home as well," he added.

Over the years, the Society has also maintained its property to make it attractive to developers and has retained portions of land to provide berms and landscaping that provide a visual buffer around the developments. Maintaining and landscaping this property, along with its dedication of land for stormwater management and open space has represented a significant cost for the Society. "The decision to provide this aesthetic enhancement and to make sure we had addressed stormwater and open space issues has been a major cost for us in the short-term," Fr. Bracken said. "But we will forego immediate benefit to make sure our land is developed right and will provide long-range benefit to the community and the Society."

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