Lincolnwood village leaders are praising the sale of the aging, half-vacant Lincolnwood Town Center mall and are considering tax incentives to spur redevelopment.
In December, Prairie Ridge Development and Xroads Real Estate Advisors purchased the property for an estimated $12.3 million. Village leaders have long called the 31-acre mall property, at the intersection of Touhy Avenue and McCormick Boulevard, primed for redevelopment.
“The village is very excited to see an entity that is investing in the mall,” said Lincolnwood Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura. “There’s been a severe decline in the number of businesses operating in the mall, so to have an established developer that is investing in the mall is great for the community.”
Last year, the reported vacancy within the mall was 54%. But when Gaura walked the mall last month, she said vacancy has seen another decrease – with retailer Kohl’s the only remaining anchor tenant.
“A TIF [tax increment financing district] is a potential for Lincolnwood Town Center,” Gaura said. “It is sometimes challenging to redevelop a site, especially of this size, without some type of incentive.”
The village has seen how a TIF can transform the community.
In February 2019, the village approved a North Lincoln Tax Increment Financing district to support District 1860, a $150 million to $175 million mixed-used development on at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Touhy avenues, the site of the former Purple Hotel, according to village documents.
Developed by Chicago-based Tucker Development, District 1860 includes 299 luxury apartments and 85,000 square feet of commercial space which now includes restaurants Mia Francesca, Fatpour and Fat Rosie’s, with plans for additional businesses and a dual-branded Marriott-owned hotel.
“We’ve seen the benefit of the infusion of private sector dollars into a redevelopment of an area,” Gaura said. “We look forward to building on the District 1860 development of what could happen at the Lincolnwood Town Center.”
Michael Nortman, a principal at Xroads Real Estate Advisors and the company’s lead in the redevelopment of Lincolnwood Town Center, along with partner Brian Pawlik, founder and president of Prairie Ridge Development Group.
“We look forward to hearing from him and seeing a plan,” Gaura said.
Nortman was hesitant to detail what his company had in mind for redeveloping the mall.
“It’s early and I’m not ready to share,” Nortman told Pioneer Press when asked what he envisions for the site. “We just closed on the property. We’re making sure we’re sensitive to the community and the village. We’re very excited to be a part of it and do something different.”
Gaura said the redevelopment will be a very thorough public process. She pointed to the village’s openness in 2022 as the Village Board adopted the Lincolnwood Town Center Concept Plan. The village worked closely with Houseal Lavigne and other contractors to create three sample designs of a mixed-use project that included residential, retail, dining and entertainment at the mall site.
“The village identified the challenges of the mall the last couple of years and proactively worked with a special servicer to envision how the mall could be redeveloped in the future,” Gaura said. “Now with the sale of the mall, that opportunity could be upon us.”
She said a lot would depend on what Nortman sees available in line with the proposed sample designs.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
