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Official: Proposed plans could 'breathe life' back into Spring Hill Mall

Proposed renovation plans for Spring Hill Mall are beginning to take shape as village and mall officials iron out the details of the mall's redevelopment.

The renovations laid out in the $37.7 million plan, first introduced in February, could "breathe life" back into Spring Hill Mall, said Tim Scott, West Dundee community development director.

The plan includes three main components: an approximately 35,000-square-foot movie theater that will hold about 1,250 people at a time; three free-standing buildings to be used for restaurants or retail, along with possible outdoor seating and a plaza; and an additional 28,000 square feet of retail spaces, 21,800 of which will be facing outward.

These elements both complement one another and give mall patrons more options, Scott said.

"That public space will give them an opportunity to congregate and browse and shop and dine," he said.

About 250,000 square feet of existing property, including the vacant JCPenney space, will be demolished to make way for redevelopment, according to the proposal.

Scott said it's too early to tell when construction will begin, but demolition could begin very soon.

Mall owner Rouse Properties said in a statement that the plan has been "carefully crafted to further strengthen (the mall's) dominant position in the marketplace."

Rouse representatives declined further comment and said more details will be revealed in a formal announcement in the near future.

With Spring Hill Mall representing West Dundee's largest sales tax generator, Scott said a reinvestment is overdue.

The preliminary plan was approved at the West Dundee Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last week and will be viewed by the Appearance Review Commission next week. The village board will see the preliminary plans later this month and will review it at least once more when the plans are finalized, Scott said.

Because the plans are only in the conceptual phase, details of the renovation could change slightly, he added, but the essence of the plan will remain the same.

"The health of the mall is critical to the revenue that the village operates off," Scott said. "Breathing life into Spring Hill Mall with this redevelopment concept plan and its execution should ... attract new tenants and in turn provide a spillover of success to the rest of the mall."

  The JCPenney on the west side of the Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee will be demolished and replaced with other businesses. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  No more packages will be picked up at the JCPenney on the west side of the Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee. The store will be demolished and replaced with other businesses. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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