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Charlestowne Mall owner doesn't tell aldermen what new tenants are coming

A status update on reopening Charlestowne Mall as The Quad came with more adjectives than hard numbers Monday night. But owners promised to begin announcing new tenants "in the near future."

The development of lots abutting Main Street followed a groundbreaking last fall. The spaces for those future tenants are still surrounded by chain link fencing and orange construction barrels.

Dan Krausz, of the Krausz Companies team that owns the property, said his team will announce "one or two kind of big names" in the near future.

"We're at a stage where there's not a lot of visually, flashy, exciting, obvious progress everyone can see by driving past the site," Krausz said.

That stagnant appearance will change with the onset of the construction season.

"I'm afraid it's going to get a little loud again soon," Krausz said.

Aldermen tried to get Krausz to at least provide a ballpark number of how many agreements are in place or in the works to fill the nearly empty mall.

Krausz said leasing agreements with tenants don't allow him to release their names to the public yet. He wouldn't provide a rough total. When ready, he'll release the names of a couple at a time to maximize publicity, he said.

"I don't think that should be interpreted as to the progress of leasing the mall," Krausz said.

There is now both a dedicated architectural team and a dedicated leasing team working on the mall full time, he said. Much of the focus inside the mall has been on so-called "junior anchors" to fill stores in the 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot range.

Krausz also worked out a new deal with the popular cinema inside the mall. A year ago, the cinema asked for the ability to own its portion of the mall. Krausz said the cinema is a "key to the success of the development" of the mall. As such, they've agreed to "a plan that they've now become very comfortable with."

Krausz said his team is still on track to have a grand opening of the mall under The Quad banner next year. But he wasn't ready to commit to a spring unveiling yet.

Some of the opening may hinge on how well Krausz's team performs at an upcoming convention in Las Vegas where they will pitch to about 50 big-name retailers in hopes of luring them to St. Charles. Krausz said much of his company's year is based on the success of relationships created at the convention.

"I'm here tonight to let you know that there's a lot going on behind the scenes," Krausz said. "Momentum is starting to build. We're in a much better place than we were a year ago."

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