Streets of Woodfield shopping center for sale

Streets of Woodfield shopping center in Schaumburg is for sale.

Developer Joseph Freed & Associates LLC of Chicago owns the shopping center featuring major tenants including Dick's Sporting Goods, Carson Pirie Scott and Legoland Discovery Center.

Brokerage firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler announced Friday that it has been named to market the sale of the 711,402-square-foot retail mall at 601 N. Martingale Road across the street from Woodfield Shopping Center.

The company released a statement stating that Streets of Woodfield is 98 percent leased on a long-term basis. The mall recently underwent an expansion with the addition of Whole Foods Market and Crate & Barrel.

Retail experts say that the positive occupancy rate or sales generated at the mall have nothing to do with Freed's decision to sell the center. Rather, the problem is issues Joseph Freed is having paying its mortgage because of other bills, experts say.

"They're having a terrible time with the bank," said John Melaniphy, president of Melaniphy & Associates retail real estate consulting firm in Chicago. The company is facing several foreclosure lawsuits by Bank of America Corp., including over the new Block 37 mall in Chicago, he said.

"This sale is all part of a bigger strategy," Melaniphy added.

Freed & Associates would not comment beyond statements issued in Holliday's release.

Declining property values are playing a big role in the issues facing Freed & Associates, experts say.

"The value of the assets has declined. Therefore, the mortgage they have is not in concert with what's accepted by the banks," Melaniphy said.

Analysts say they expect the problem to continue with other mall owners.

"We'll see more of this. The banks have played the game of extend and pretend," Melaniphy said.

The economy is taking its toll everywhere, Melaniphy added, noting that this is the worse recession he has seen in his 45 years working in the industry.

"Freed is trying to find a way out of trouble," he said.

Streets of Woodfield shoppers should not notice a difference in operations at the mall, experts say.

Meanwhile, the brokerage firm touts the area's demographic base featuring 270,000 people within a five-mile radius of the property and an $87,000-plus average household income. About 250,000 cars per day travel past the center on I-290 and Higgins Road.