New Randhurst? Planners now say 2011
The new Randhurst will open a year later than expected, but it has nothing to do with the economy, the mall's developers told the Mount Prospect village board on Tuesday.
The holdup is mostly due to AMC Theaters, which is not only relocating within the mall's site but designing a whole new theater with more food options, said Brett Hutchens, a vice president for Casto Lifestyle Properties, the company that owns the mall.
It's taken more than four months for the theater to design the plans, Hutchens said.
Originally the new Randhurst was supposed to open in the spring of 2010. The grand opening is now slated for spring 2011, said Jim Conroy, Casto's director of development.
"Most of the work we're doing now is on the interior," he said. "We just spent $800,000 to clean up asbestos inside the mall."
Despite the year delay, both Conroy and Hutchens assured Mount Prospect officials that the massive mall redevelopment will still happen.
"A lot of retailers are stopping and trying to figure out their place in the world today," Hutchens said. "Next spring the retail market will bounce back. Randhurst will happen. As soon as the vertical construction begins, people will believe."
Randhurst is still attractive because of the established residential base surrounding it - there are 325,000 people within five miles, Hutchens said.
Hutchens and Conroy also came to Tuesday's meeting bearing new development news. A Chipotle restaurant and a Five Guys Burger and Fries will go into the former Egg Factory site. A T-Mobile store will also open there, Conroy said.
"It's one of Obama's favorite places," he said about the Five Guys restaurant. Last month, Obama stopped at the burger place in Washington, D.C., and ordered a cheeseburger.
In addition, Hampton Inn is planning a 120-room hotel complete with a pool on the site, Conroy said.
In January, construction crews ripped down the outer portion of the mall, after working for months gutting the inside, which used to be home to about 80 small stores. The main anchor stores will remain and are currently open. The mall is being redeveloped into what will be called Randhurst Village at a cost of about $150 million.
The development will include a new theater, hotel, restaurant, and retail and office spaces.
The redevelopment plan calls also for a number of restaurants and 25 smaller buildings to be scattered around the site. The plan allows for rental dwellings units to be built some time in the future if the developer chooses.
Casto owns the mall with JP Morgan Chase, wants to reinvent the mall to be similar to the The Glen Town Center in Glenview. That open-air mall is part of a 1,100-acre site for retail, offices and homes built on a former naval air station.
Mount Prospect trustee Paul Hoefert wasn't concerned with Randhurst's grand opening delay.
"This project will hit the ground running if the economy projections are correct," Hoefert said.
New: An Obama burger spot to appear at Randhurst