Marcia S.
Yelp
I live in the West Loop. For several years, I met friends from Oak Park and Rodgers Park here for an early movie, usually on Sunday afternoon. Then we'd shop a little and have dinner. But with the new Roosevelt Collection parking fees for four hours ($14 for each car and $42 for all three), we now meet in Oak Park.
Oak Park is about a 15 minute drive by car. Ample parking is $1/hour and free on Sundays and after 6:00. The Lake Theatre charges $8.50 for first run ($6.00 for a matinee). There are dozens of wonderful restaurants, bars and stores within a two block radius, and it's safe to walk around at night.
It's not that we don't have the money to park here... it's that we refuse to pay for something we can get for free. With just a few exceptions, all of these cookie cutter stores are in neighborhoods and malls with free parking. So if you have a car, like we all do, there's just no reason to shop here. (The exception is Z Gallerie, one of my favorite stores, which I also reviewed on Yelp).
It appears the new fees are affecting business. The Icon theatre is now offering members discounts... and I recently received special offers from stores where I used to shop. They must not have read the "we can take free parking away and gouge your customers any time we want" clause.
I stopped in Z Gallerie a couple of weeks ago... and took advantage of the 90-minute free parking. But when you add in the time it took to park and retrieve my car in the cavernous, maize-like garage, I only had about an hour to shop. Not enough time for Container Store, too, so I went to the one near my condo (with free parking).
There are some positive things about this complex. If you live within walking and biking distance, and especially if you don't have a car, it's very convenient. If you're into the VIP movie experience, enjoying cocktails and food while watching a movie, Icon is definitely the best place for you (and the $14 parking fee probably doesn't matter). Finally, the Bridgeport Coffee store is an experience you don't want to miss as the weather gets colder and they light up the fire pit.
But if you're looking for anything other than typical mall stores, you'll probably be disappointed. Retailing is a tough business today, and I think it will take a lot more than this mix to get people away from online shopping. A missed opportunity to engage the people who actually rent and own near here? Time will tell.
UPDATED 9/22/16: From the official comment below, you can now park for four hours for $10. This is not what the website still states, but perhaps they haven't gotten around to updating it. Good to know that all of the complaints resulted in action. But in my humble opinion, still too expensive.