Chicago Suburb Eyes Eminent Domain to Seize Struggling Mall

The Village of Lincolnwood is weighing an aggressive move to jump-start redevelopment of its aging shopping hub.

Officials are considering the use of eminent domain to take over the Lincolnwood Town Center mall, a 31-acre property that’s struggled for years with vacancies and ownership turnover, WMAQ reported.

The mall at Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard is “the largest redevelopment opportunity within Chicago’s inner-ring suburbs,” the outlet said. The site, which opened more than 35 years ago, has cycled through owners and foreclosure proceedings. JLL was tapped to market it almost three years ago.

Lincolnwood Town Center has long been a casualty of suburban malls’ slow-motion collapse. Its largest anchor, Carson’s, shuttered in 2018, replaced by RoomPlace, which has 84,000 square feet. The mall’s owner at the time, Washington Prime Group, filed for bankruptcy three years later. By 2022, the property had fallen into foreclosure, with Torchlight Investors moving to offload it. Today, Kohl’s is the main draw with a footprint of 102,000 square feet, alongside about three dozen smaller tenants, but swaths of space sit empty. The mall is 81 percent occupied.

The village underscored its intent to “assist developers with repurposing this property for the next generation of commercial retail, restaurant and hospitality uses.” A redevelopment blueprint, the “Lincolnwood Town Center Concept Plan,” was adopted by the Village Board in 2022, laying out mixed-use scenarios that include apartments, offices and entertainment.

JLL’s marketing materials pitch the 423,000-square-foot center as a “1990 vintage property” ripe for repositioning. The firm highlights the municipality’s backing, existing lease structures and the potential to introduce multifamily, office and service retail to the site. The move also comes as other large Chicagoland malls have undergone major renovations or redevelopment.

For Lincolnwood, the question is no longer whether the Town Center needs a reset, but how to make it happen. Eminent domain would give the village direct control, but also risks a costly legal battle. For now, officials say they’ll continue exploring the option, with further discussions expected at upcoming board meetings.

If the village moves forward, it would mark one of the more aggressive municipal interventions in Chicago’s suburban retail landscape — a sign of just how far traditional malls have fallen, and how valuable well-located land has become for mixed-use redevelopment.

— Eric Weilbacher