Renovations on Hanover Park shopping center nearly complete

Hanover Park is hoping a new facade and a freshly paved parking lot will attract businesses to the Hanover Square Shopping Center.

The village bought Hanover Square in 2011 for $2.8 million, and is hoping the $3 million in renovations will help turn a profit on the property that had been in decline for years.

Hanover Park Village Planner Patrick Ainsworth said most of the facade work and the renovated interior for the anchor tenant, Gymkhana, is complete.

"It's mostly just small things now like landscaping and tuck pointing and some concrete and asphalt work in the rear of the building," Ainsworth said.

Gymkhana, previously located on Tower Drive in Hanover Park, is a youth gymnastic and dance club. It moved into a 24,000-square-foot section in the middle of the Hanover Square property in March and is considered the center's anchor tenant.

Hanover Park entered a public-private partnership with Tobin Development Corp. in 2015. In the partnership, Hanover Park has 90 percent ownership of the property, leaving 10 percent of ownership with Tobin.

Eventually, Village President Rod Craig says, ownership will be transferred to Tobin.

Craig says it is unclear how long the transfer will take, but it is "kind of based on the profitability of the property."

Tobin was in charge of securing financing for the construction and Hanover Park contributed the equity, or the value of the property.

The village and the developer now own the property as a limited liability corporation called Hanover Square LLC.

Ainsworth says two of the existing businesses in Hanover Square are interested in expanding into some of the currently-vacant space.

"There have also been quite a few showings of the space with the leasing agent," Ainsworth said.

Once the renovations are complete, Hanover Park will be more aggressive in trying to attract new businesses, Ainsworth said.

"You want to have your house presentable when you have people come over - this is kind of the same deal," he said. "We want to make sure everything is clean and in place."

The village is hoping to draw a "junior anchor" tenant to a currently empty 15,000-square-foot portion of the shopping center, Ainsworth added.

Villa Park's NAI Hiffman is the center's property manager and leasing agent.