Namdar hikes price of River Oaks mall, Calumet City proceeding anyway

Plans for the one-time retail heart of the Calumet Region on Chicago’s South Side to find new life with the addition of residential development could be in critical condition now that the owner of the property is raising its price.

Public officials in Calumet City have been eying the 58-year-old River Oaks shopping center for redevelopment, with a plan to buy the 1.4 million-square-foot center on 11 acres and turn it into a mixed-use campus anchored by residences, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

Retail, restaurants and park space would round out the development, according to plans from Gregory Ramon Design Studio.

The design for the overall redevelopment would keep existing retail tenants Shoe Carnival and Shoppers World in place while seeking restaurants and other tenants to complement them and benefit from residential development.

That’s all in doubt now, according to Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones, who said New York-based owner Namdar Realty Group has backed away from a deal to sell for a price in the $4 million to $7 million range, which would be $2.85 to $5 per square foot. Jones said the “U-turn” by the landlord of the center has brought negotiations to halt.

The price cited by Jones would come to about $10 million at the high end, or $7.14 per square foot.

Jones, meanwhile, said the city will consider moving without a deal with Namdar, instead developing 40 acres it owns around the River Oaks center into an “entertainment district.”

“We’re not going to stop because of them,” Jones said. “We offered them fair value for it; we tried to negotiate with them, but we’re at the breaking point now. We’ve given them two-and-a-half years to come to the table, and they’ve been giving us the runaround.”

The overall plan for River Oaks would cost an estimated $110 million, Williams said. 

Namdar paid an undisclosed amount for River Oaks, and has changed little at the center since, according to reports.

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Namdar did not immediately respond to questions about its plans for River Oaks.

The city’s plan calls for the State of Illinois to cover $60 million of the cost and a private developer to fund the rest, in partnership with the city, Jones said, adding that two possible partners have expressed interest.

The deal could turn on the condition of the building, which likely helps explain the low price range being bandied about by city officials. River Oaks was built in 1966 as an open-air center and enclosed in the early 1990s.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct where Namdar is based.