The recently-announced closing of the remaining locations of the Carson’s department store chain won’t help a soft retail market — and could be downright painful for owners of some Chicago-area shopping malls.
The vacancy rate for retail space hit 11.4 percent last quarter, the highest level in eight years, according to data from CBRE.
Shopping centers around the Chicago area that lease space to Carson’s will be hit hard as the retailer ceases operations and stops paying rent.
Those include Edens Plaza, a 343,000-square-foot center in Wilmette with a 161,000-square-foot Carson’s, and Orland Square Mall, a 1.2 million-square-foot center in Orland Park that has a 163,000-square-foot location, according to Crain’s.
A 200,000-square-foot Sears location also recently closed at Orland Square, owned by Seritage Growth Properties.
Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, which has a total of 1.3 million square feet, will lose a 133,000-square-foot Carson’s store after already enduring the recent loss of Macy’s and J.C. Penney locations.
In what’s becoming a familiar routine, retail landlords are chopping up space once held by large tenants that have gone belly-up. Seritage signed a lease with AMC Theatres, for example, to take space in part of its former Sears store at Orland Square.
Starwood Retail Partners, which owns the 970,000-square-foot Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet, will lose a 43,000-square-foot Toys “R” Us store to that chain’s bankruptcy.
Starwood plans to add new uses like apartments and medical offices to mitigate risk at some of its retail properties. [Crain’s] – Scott Klocksin