General Growth Properties Inc. has joined forces with the Greater Southwest Development Corp. in marketing the site east of Western Avenue between 59th and 62nd streets. Most of the land is vacant and used to be the home of an American Can factory that was torn down in the 1990s.

Accordingly, they have dubbed the potential plaza the Cannery. Chicago-based General Growth, best known for its ownership of suburban malls across the country, hopes the project will be one of the first successes of a company initiative to expand in big-city neighborhoods.

"Certainly, it is incumbent upon retailers to find sites to serve these growing markets,'' said John Bucksbaum, General Growth's chief executive. He declined to comment on specific plans for the property, but said his company would consider other locations in Chicago and is currently evaluating sites in Michigan and Ohio.

James Capraro, executive director of the Greater Southwest group, said the site affords access to a large and underserved population. He said market data shows that nearby residents must spend about 44 percent of their retail dollars outside the community.

Another partner in the project is Sears Holdings Corp., the landowner. A Sears store, one of the company's oldest, sits on the site at the northeast corner of 62nd and Western.

Capraro said Sears is committed to keeping the store and has renovated and expanded it in recent years. Other portions of the land are occupied by a cineplex, a Jewel-Osco and Aldi groceries and a Pep Boys car repair center.

All are open to staying put or opening in a new building, depending on how the redevelopment takes shape, Capraro said. "Everyone sees the potential in sales volume for their business," he said.

Marketing materials show three concept designs for the Cannery. All allow for at least 345,000 square feet of stores with a major anchor or two, and one calls for new multifamily housing along 59th Street.

Capraro's group has been involved in new housing and in attracting businesses to areas east of Midway Airport for 32 years. He said the Cannery project was born about a year ago when General Growth contacted him in its search for property.

Greater Southwest and General Growth are working with Sears under a "firm handshake" that should reach the contract stage soon, Capraro said. He said he hopes the project will be open sometime in 2008 or 2009.

That will depend on important retailers signing leases. Bucksbaum said that while more chains have become sensitive to urban markets, especially the increased spending power of Hispanics, a proposed city ordinance mandating wage rates for "big box" discount stores could scuttle the project.

"I'm very concerned about that ordinance," he said, noting that Target has threatened to cancel store openings in Chicago if the law passes. "I think this needs to be taken seriously by the city."

The property once was slated to get a Super Kmart. The bankruptcy of Kmart ended that plan but in a twist of fate, the site came under Sears' control when the revived Kmart took over Sears in 2005.