If all goes as planned, the village of West Dundee will own almost all of Spring Hill Mall before winter’s end.
Village President Chris Nelson said he anticipates they’ll close on the $7 million purchase of the mall’s interior and the former Carson’s anchor store from Kohan Retail Investment Group sometime in February.
“What happens past this is up for discussion, and at this time there are no specific plans,” Nelson said.
The village purchased the former Sears anchor store from Hoffman Estates-based Transformco for $1.958 million in August and earlier this month it closed on the purchse of the former Macy’s anchor store for $1.21 million.
Once the deal Kohan is done, West Dundee will not only be the owner of the vast majority of the mall — about 20% to 25% of which is actually located in Carpentersville — it will also own the still-operating Cinemark Spring Hill Mall movie theater complex.
Only the Kohl’s store in Carpentersville, the mall’s last remaining anchor store, remains privately owned and is still in business.
There are no plans to evict any of the businesses still open in the mall. In fact, Carpentersville has issued eight new business occupancy permits in the last six months and West Dundee has granted 12, with another two pending, in the last year, officials said.
There are also eight or 10 business vendors who are operating inside the former Carson’s store.
West Dundee does not plan to annex the Carpenterville portion of the mall into the village, Nelson said, but it will eventually decommission the name “Spring Hill Mall.”
Sometime during the first quarter of 2024, an architecture, engineering, construction, operations and management proposal will be put together as the first step in mall redevelopment, Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said. They’ll also be gathering estimates on the cost of infrastructure, road and other public improvements needed, he said.
Having the mall owned by West Dundee lessens the complications involved in finding new uses for the struggling property, Nelson said.
“It’s unlikely that there will be just one developer,” he said.
It’s expected the site will be a mix of residential, retail and dining that will blend in with existing, adjacent businesses and with the apartment building being constructed at Route 31 and Huntley Road in Carpentersville, Nelson said.
“This will be a long-term play,” he said. “We’d like for what comes next to be nice and to be complementary to what’s already there. That most likely will be hard to assemble and will take time.”
In the long term, the village being proactive in buying the mall should lead to improved property values, increased economic development and eventually more tax revenue for West Dundee, Nelson said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
