Woodfield nears end of yearlong renovation
Schaumburg learned this week that it will no longer be the global headquarters of Motorola Solutions, but another of the village's major icons - Woodfield Mall - is nearing completion of a major reinvestment in the Northwest suburb.
The $13.9 million renovation of the 2.2-million-square-foot mall that began just after last holiday shopping season is on track to be finished, but for one elevator, by the time Santa returns in early November.
"We're super excited!" Woodfield Mall General Manager David Gott said Friday. "It's nice to be in the homestretch. Business has held up incredibly well."
An important upcoming date is Oct. 1, when a second elevator in the center court and the mall's new mini-escalators are expected to begin operating. This will represent a partial return to normality after the major work of the past eight months, Gott said.
The children's play area near the center court will also be closed for four days later this month as its carpeting and seating are replaced. Though signs have already been posted to alert parents, Gott expects some shoppers will consider those four days the most disruptive part of the entire project.
But Woodfield's Santa experience will begin without fail on Nov. 5, Gott said. About a third of the center court will still be cordoned off around the third elevator, but that lingering part of the renovation isn't expected to be too disruptive.
The project won't be considered entirely done until about the first week of March 2016, an occasion that will be marked with a celebration.
"We want to make sure we're done," Gott said.
New carpeting and tile are already largely in place near the mall's entrances. New seating areas will be among the last additions before November.
In other changes, mall management recently received approval of updated signs and the repaving of about a third of the ring road around the center has been completed.
New tenants and expansions have come throughout Woodfield's yearlong upgrade. Zara will open Oct. 7, Timberland on Oct. 9, and a new Fannie May Chocolates store in November.
C.D. Peacock jewelers and AT&T have expanded their existing stores this year while Build-A-Bear Workshop, Everything But Water, Michael Hill and Hollister have significantly upgraded theirs.
The most difficult part of the project was the removal of the heavy concrete walls that once housed the sunken aquarium and waterfall near the center court. In early 1970s architecture, bulk made up for a precise understanding of pressure points in accommodating such water features, Gott said.
"It was really the only thing we ran into that we weren't anticipating," he said of the degree of work required to remove the reinforced concrete.
As significant a step as the project is in Woodfield's 44-year history, it's not a renovation, but an "evolution," one that will continue in various ways long after next March, Gott said.
Simon Property Group, which purchased the mall from Taubman Co. in early 2013, has specific plans that extend well into the next decade which cannot yet be revealed, he said, adding that there will be an exciting new tenant announcement made later this year.
Schaumburg officials see Woodfield as a major component of the local economy. Not only has the mall attracted many other businesses over the years, but the $11 million in sales tax revenue it generates annually is about 22 percent of the village's total.