Five years after Matteson officials unveiled plans to redevelop the property that housed Lincoln Mall, Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said the village has made headway on plans to bring a mixed-use development, called Market Square Crossing, to the site.
The mall closed in January 2015, with the exception of Carson Pirie Scott, which shut its doors abruptly in March 2018 and demolition soon followed. Since then, the 60-acre property has remained vacant as the village worked to acquire the property it didn’t own.
Chalmers-Currin said Friday the village purchased the final parcel in August for roughly $108,000, clearing the way for developers.
“It’s pretty much shovel ready for the Market Square Crossing, and we’re just prepared to move forward,” Chalmers-Currin said. “We feel we’re in a good place right now.”
Any redevelopment required the village to acquire the rest of the land, Chalmers-Currin said.
Matteson began acquiring property in 2018, starting with the purchase of the Sears Holdings’ property at the mall for $525,000. This included the vacant anchor store and adjacent parking areas. At the time, the remainder of the mall, except for Carson’s, was owned by New York real estate developer Michael Kohan, who purchased Lincoln Mall for $150,000 at a property tax auction in 2012.
“It makes it much easier when you can sit down with developers and talk about your ownership and what you have as to what can be developed there,” Chalmers-Currin said. “That last piece of parcel makes us very much more in demand, and you don’t have to cut in or cut out. We can actually look at them and and say, we have this land.”
The village created a tax increment financing district for the Market Square Crossing Development in 2023, which Chalmers-Currin said could provide needed incentives to support the redevelopment of such a large and complex property.
“All of this is to get us ready so that we can move forward with the right developers,” she said. “We have interested parties, and we’re going to continue to work with them, so we’re excited about that. We don’t have to rush, we’re going to make sure that we have the right individuals a part of that Market Square Crossing.”
Matteson officials envision the development will feature recreational facilities, owner-occupied and rental housing units, a central open area for community functions, office space and retail.
The site, located southeast of U.S. 30 and Cicero Avenue, was one of the final two contenders for the south suburban casino before Matteson lost the bid to Homewood and East Hazel Crest.
Chalmers-Currin said the original 2018 plans for the mixed-use Market Square were adjusted to include the casino as the anchor for the redevelopment. However, after Matteson lost the bid, she said the village proceeded with the original plans for the site.
A 2016 study by Hunden Strategic Partners, commissioned by the village, recommended redeveloping the mall property into a walkable town center. The plan includes apartments above ground-floor retail, as well as a public plaza, green space, amphitheater and walking trail.
Plans on the village website show 50 acres designated for redevelopment, subdivided into 1-acre sites. This includes 30.9 acres for sports and recreational use, 613 proposed residential units, a 2.3-acre Town Center, 2,500 off-street parking spaces and bicycle and pedestrian paths that will connect to the Old Plank Road Trail.
Matteson has worked Chicago firm The Lord Cos. LLC to market the site, which has been divided into 14 lots to make it easier to sell parcels for redevelopment.
Chalmers-Currin said other factors such as the village’s financial health position Matteson for developments.
While the Lincoln Mall site has been slow to build, Chalmers-Currin points to other projects boosted Matteson’s sales tax revenue, surpassing the levels seen during the peak of Lincoln Mall. Matteson collected about $8 million in sales tax revenue in 2004, according to figures supplied by a village spokesperson. In 2023, the village had generated $9.5 million in sales tax revenue.
“We want to make sure that we don’t only look at what was done in the past, because we know that malls of the past are no longer going to be in the future,” Chalmers-Currin said.
While some in the village have called for more small shops, restaurants and franchise businesses, Chalmers-Currin emphasized the need to consider industry trends.
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