Carpentersville village president wants shopping center gone

Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto says the Meadowdale Mall on Route 25 needs more than just a facelift, it needs reconstruction.

Writing on his blog earlier this week, Sarto said he had requested a meeting with the property's owner, Besinger Properties, to negotiate an agreement to tear down the mall he described as "rundown" and "obsolete."

"It's no longer feasible to use a Band-Aid approach to this old tired venue," Sarto wrote.

Instead of patching up problem areas, Sarto suggests razing the 182,350 square foot main structure, which houses such businesses as Ace Hardware, La Ilusion and Dollar General. The mall also accommodates several free-standing buildings, including the former Instant Replay.

"I think right now it is dilapidated, outdated and in disrepair," Sarto said Thursday. "It really needs to be torn down and replaced with free-standing stores similar to lifestyle center developments."

But while it may be dated and antiquated compared to today's concepts, mall manager Frank Scarpelli said tearing it down is not the most feasible option.

Rebuilding, he said, would cost upward of $25 million and force current tenants to relocate.

"I have 31 tenants that I have a legal obligation to provide space for," said Scarpelli, a member of the Besinger family. "Some leases expire in a year or two, but then I have others that don't expire for 25 years or more.

"Even if we thought we could go ahead and rebuild the mall, the Besinger family would have to accommodate the tenants in the new building and provide space in the meantime," he said.

A more appropriate - and cost effective - option would be to start with facade improvements, Scarpelli said.

"It could accomplish the same thing, dress up the front of the stores and improve signage," he said, estimating the improvements between $1 million to $3 million. "But we can't control what a business does with the inside of a store."

Original sections of the mall were built in 1957 and parts were added or removed in 1964, 1964 and in 1990, Scarpelli said.

Carpentersville Economic Development Coordinator Janice Murphy said for now the village is focusing on creating a tax increment financing district - or TIF - to kick start development in the area.

"We don't have a redevelopment agreement with the Besingers, so I think it is premature to be talking about tearing down the mall," Murphy said.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://carpentersville.wordpress.com/">Bill Sarto blog </a></li> <li><a href="http://carpentersville.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/the-future-of-carpentersville/">Meadowdale entry on Sarto blog </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>