The new developers of the Charlestowne Mall were short on details Monday night but provided plenty of assurances that “The Quad” is on track.
Dan Krausz, of the Krausz Companies, updated St. Charles aldermen on the project, reassuring them that a team was hard at work despite little activity at the site. The California-based developers acquired the languishing mall in 2013, promising to reopen The Quad in spring 2016 with a full lineup of new retailers, restaurants and entertainment options.
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“Momentum is starting to build,” Krausz said Monday. “We’re in a much better place than we were a year ago.”
Aldermen said neighbors might wonder why the site has seemed so quiet recently, but Krausz said that with construction season ramping up, “it’s going to get a little loud again soon.”
“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,” he said, but residents shouldn’t interpret that to mean there’s not activity happening behind the scenes.
The project also calls for building out lots for restaurants and businesses along Illinois Route 64, as well as two other buildings for retail and drive-throughs.
Alderman also asked for any hints about the number or names of retailers signing on, but Krausz said leasing agreements prohibit him from sharing. They want to coordinate the release of a few names at a time, he said, to draw the most attention to the new businesses.
They’ll be ready to release a few names “in the near future,” he said.
They’re also banking on an upcoming annual convention for the shopping mall industry in Las Vegas, he said, where they’ll have the chance to speak with 50 possible mall tenants.
What he’s heard from interested tenants is that they want The Quad to “deliver an experience.”
Since he last visited the council, Krausz Companies has dedicated more full-time staff to the project, Dan Krausz said.
“Since we’ve both last seen each other, we’ve greatly expanded the leasing and development team dedicated to the project,” Krausz said, and added more consultants to the construction side.
They’ve also come up with a deal with the movie theater there, which will be an anchor of the new project, he said, after the cinema requested to own its segment of the mall.
The movie theater is key to the project’s success, he said, and they’ve agreed to a plan that “they’re now become very comfortable with,” he said.
He said the goal remains for The Quad to open in 2016.
Aguilar is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Twitter: @TribLocal