Spring Hill Mall, a part of the West Dundee and Carpentersville communities since October 1980, will close for good next month.
All leases have been terminated and all tenants must be gone by March 22, according to a letter sent to store owners dated Feb. 21 by Kohan Retail Investment Group.
“As tenants, you have contributed significantly to Spring Hill Mall and we want to ensure your transition is as smooth as possible,” the letter said.
The logistics of vacating the premises are to be coordinated by general manager Denise Richardson, who is also a Carpentersville Village Board trustee.
The village of West Dundee is in the process of purchasing the mall property from Kohan. Village President Chris Nelson said the village sought to coordinate the closing announcement with the company, but the owner elected to contact tenants directly.
Cinemark Theaters, which has a long-term lease, and the Kohl’s store, which owns its building, will remain open, Nelson said. The movie theater is in the West Dundee portion of the mall and the Kohl’s in the Carpentersville section.
Carpentersville Village Manager John O’Sullivan said he has reached out to Kohl’s management for information on its future plans are but there has been no response so far.
Kohl’s has been a “great partner,” O’Sullivan said. “We’d love for them to say if they want to stay.”
West Dundee started buying mall properties last year in an effort to orchestrate the struggling shopping center’s redevelopment.
“The village still plans to acquire the mall property,” Nelson said. “We’re not going to re-tenant the mall. Wholesale redevelopment is the primary goal and demolition of most of the property will eventually take place.”
The village purchased the mall’s former Sears anchor location for $1.958 million in last August and in December it closed on the purchase of the former Macy’s anchor store for $1.21 million. A $7 million deal to purchase the rest of the mall, including the former Carson’s anchor store, is being finalized.
The sale should close sometime after March 22, once the interior is empty, Nelson said.
Once the shopping center is village property, a public discussion will be held on what to do it while plans are made for redevelopment, he said.
When the mall opened 43 years ago, the first two anchors were Marshall Field & Co. and Sears, Roebuck & Co. Bergner’s opened in the third anchor spot in 1981 followed by the Joseph Spiess Co. as the fourth anchor three years later.
For many years it was a thriving enterprise, with most interior stores filled and a large food court with restaurants like Sbarro’s Pizza, Boardwalk Fries, Cinnabon and Auntie Anne’s pretzels.
As malls fell out of popularity with the shopping public, however, interior store tenants and the anchor stores closed.
Mike Danahey and Gloria Casas are freelance reporters for The Courier-News.