West Dundee picks up another closed anchor at Spring Hill Mall
West Dundee can now check the former Sears store at Spring Hill Mall off its shopping list.
Trustees on Monday unanimously agreed to spend $2 million to buy the shuttered anchor building. The planned purchase is the village's latest move in an attempt to clear the path for a developer to re-imagine the troubled mall.
"I think it's a great move," West Dundee Trustee Thomas Price said. "The mall needs help. ... This gives us that much more control."
"It's better than waiting until the bitter end," added Trustee Andy Yuscka.
Spring Hill Mall, which village officials say has a 20% to 25% occupancy rate, is split between West Dundee and Carpentersville. The 192,000-square-foot former Sears building, owned by Transformco, sits on 14 acres in West Dundee.
The decision to buy the former Sears building comes two weeks after village trustees approved spending $1.25 million to buy the former Macy's building. Sears and Macy's closed their Spring Hill Mall stores in early 2020.
The village anticipates it will close on both properties within the next 30 to 45 days.
With the Sears acquisition, only two other property owners remain at the mall - Kohl's and New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group, which owns a former Carson Pirie Scott building and the interior of the mall.
A Kohan representative could not be reached for comment Monday.
West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson declined to say if the village has made an offer on the rest of the mall property. Earlier this month, Carpentersville Village Manager John O'Sullivan said the village learned that West Dundee had made an offer to Kohan to buy the former Carson Pirie Scott building and the interior of the mall.
Nelson has said streamlining the mall's ownership is key to attracting developers to re-imagine the property.
In announcing the purchase of Sears and Macy's, Nelson said the value is in the land the buildings sit on and that he does not envision a reuse of either building. He said he expected both buildings to come down within the next 12 to 18 months.