Several Chicagoland shopping malls have traded hands in recent years, with some ending up in the control of local government. At least five are in various stages of redevelopment or renovation. The Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles is just one.
Stratford Square Mall
142 South Gary Avenue, Bloomingdale
The Village of Bloomingdale spent $17 million to buy the Stratford Square Mall with plans to transform the property into a mixed-use development known as The Grove.
Renderings made public Sept. 26 outline the vision for the 275-acre site, including apartments, retail and commercial space, lakeside restaurants, illuminated fountains, a winding boardwalk and an oval-shaped lawn for concerts.
Spring Hill Mall
1072 Spring Hill Mall West, Dundee
Local officials are also taking this one into their own hands.
New York-based Kohan Retail Investment agreed late last year to sell its remaining stake in the Spring Hill Mall to the Village of West Dundee, which had been buying pieces of the property over time.
The mall owner ultimately determined that the village was better equipped to transform the site, and the village closed on the purchase of its last piece of the property for $7 million in March. Specific plans for the site have not been determined.
North Riverside Park Mall
7501 Cermak Road, North Riverside
After narrowly avoiding foreclosure, New York-based Feil Organization, announced an infusion of $8 million for renovations to the North Riverside Park Mall in February. In the early months of the pandemic, Feil nearly defaulted on a $75 million note for the property but secured an extension on its maturity date.
Feil’s makeover of North Riverside mall includes creating a new entrance, along with flooring and ceilings.
Trouble could be ahead for the mall, however, as the loan’s extension ends Oct. 6. Commentary from Morningstar Credit notes that the loan is watchlisted and for at least one portion of the loan, Feil is engaging in “short-term forbearance discussions.”
Chicago Ridge Mall
444 Ridgeland Avenue, Chicago Ridge
Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood defaulted on an $80 million loan for the Chicago Ridge Mall in July of last year.
Florida-based Second Horizon Capital came in and bought the property for $64.3 million, driving a $15 million loss for the lender, records show. This March, Second Horizon secured a 41,000-square-foot lease with Burlington Coat Factory in what the firm hopes will be the first step in the right direction for the struggling mall.
The Arboretum of South Barrington
100 West Higgins Road, South Barrington
Starwood also defaulted on a $67 million loan for the Arboretum of South Barrington and faced foreclosure before local real estate investor Rick Heidner bought the distressed note in early 2022.
While the sum Heidner paid for the loan wasn’t disclosed, he took out a $29.5 million mortgage at the time the mall traded hands and he refinanced it in 2023 with a $30 million loan from Busey Bank, public records show.
The 480,000-square-foot shopping center ran into trouble during the pandemic when multiple tenants, including Sur La Table, Loft and Gymboree, filed for bankruptcy protection.
Heidner has plans to further develop the asset and said in a statement that he sees it as a “flagship property.”