Carpentersville will spend $2 million to purchase the former Kohl’s property for future redevelopment under a deal approved this week by the village board.
“We need to take control (of that site) because some other town would buy it,” Village President John Skillman said.
Kohl’s was Spring Hill Mall’s last anchor store and closed in April. The 6-acre site is part of the portion of the now-shuttered mall located in Carpentersville; the rest falls within the village of West Dundee’s boundaries.
West Dundee over the past two years has purchased most of the mall property, with parcels located off Route 72 in both villages, for about $11.25 million. Only the Cinemark West Dundee movie theaters remain independently owned.
Interior mall demolition is underway, West Dundee Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said, and it’s expected the entire structure other than Kohl’s will be razed by year’s end.
Carpentersville’s move “makes sense based on the overall direction of the development of the mall and is consistent with the village of West Dundee’s board’s direction in terms of (its) acquisition of Sears and Macy’s (and the other parts of the mall),” Cavallaro said.
The purchase won’t affect West Dundee’s plans, but “we hope there is a level of collaboration between the two communities in terms of the end utilization of the Kohl’s property,” he said.
Skillman agreed, and said the village will “work with West Dundee on the project.”
Exterior mall demolition should start “at the end of the month, beginning with (former) Sears and Macy’s (anchor stores),” Cavallaro said.
While there hasn’t been developer interest yet, “I think a lot of things will start to change once the property is made readily available for development,” he said. The fact the village is doing the heavy work by tearing down the buildings will help draw interest, he said.
In village documents on the sale, Carpentersville officials said the village “has generally abided by the policy of not becoming an investor in commercial property.”
“(However) the Kohl’s location is integral to the village’s ongoing interest in the area, consistent with its comprehensive plan as well as recent concepts that have been contemplated for potential public or private development, which would also include potential expansion of utilities to the immediate and surrounding area.
“Kohl’s preferred to sell its property to our village despite another party attempting to outbid us (because of its) unwavering support of Kohl’s trying to continue successful operations at the location,” documents said.
Village Attorney Brad Stewart said the village did its due diligence before making the purchase, including having a survey, title report and environmental testing completed before moving forward. The sale should close in the coming week.
Carpentersville will fund the purchase and other work needed for the site using money in its surplus general fund budget, according to documents. The general fund’s balance as of Jan. 1 was $22.9 million, the result of revenues exceeding projections last year, officials said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
