Lincolnwood mayor Jesal Patel said he is hopeful his town can turn the Lincolnwood Town Center from a dying mall into an economic engine for the small suburb.
The mayor addressed a handful of community members Sept. 10 as part of his “State of the Village” talk. While Patel covered a slew of topics, the mall and the recent completion of District 1860 took center stage.
The District 1860 project, which includes a mix of retail and business space, sits on the lot formerly occupied by the Purple Hotel near Touhy and Lincoln avenues. It was established in summer 2023.
However, residents and other stakeholders got few details on a timetable or how the project will move forward. Even a quick development at the site will take years to realize, according to officials.
Patel showed the audience three visions for redevelopment of the Lincolnwood Town Center property, and each had a combination of residential, shopping and business spaces. The three concepts, listed as A, B and C, are on the village website and have been available for review since 2022, when the village began shopping the property to potential developers.
The mall has fallen on hard times since the pandemic when it went into foreclosure. While retailers like Kohl’s and Harlem Furniture still have stores there, vacancies have increased in recent years and several potential buyers have walked away from deals. The most recent one walked away this year after considering developing the site for a year-and-a-half, Patel said.
Last month, the Lincolnwood Village Board directed village staff to look into the “possible exercise of eminent domain” of the mall property. However, exactly what that means isn’t clear.
“Eminent domain powers in Illinois are very broad and complex, and they can be used in a variety of ways and we’re exploring those ways,” Patel said in an interview with Pioneer Press after the State of the Village address. “I don’t have our attorney here. I can’t explain all of the detail and I wouldn’t dare try.”
The mayor said the goal, though, is clear: Develop the property and bring in stable tax revenue.
Patel, himself a real estate developer, said the three proposals are only suggestions not expectations. But he suspects one of those ideas will pan out. He pointed out the village had three similar mock ups for District 1860 and the final project looked very similar to one of those ideas.
“It could potentially have three million square feet of development,” he said. “It’s kind of showing what we’re tolerant of.”
Patel said the expectation is that the mall redevelopment would include a mixed-use plan.
“We could get lucky and see more retail in that mixed use, or and see a greater percentage. I don’t know what a baseline would be, but certainly more commercial would be preferential,” he said.
Commercial spaces usually pay more property tax, also they have the greater potential to draw sales tax revenue for the village. Patel told the audience that Lincolnwood Town Center, as a commercial space, has been a cash cow for the community.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff coming over the next 10, 20, 30, 50 years to plan for. This is going to give us a lot to plan with, without going to taxpayers,” the mayor said.
Nevertheless, any redevelopment plan will have to include residential, he said. Lincolnwood is locked into its boundaries and that space gives room to grow.
“We’re going to grow by 500 residents by the next 10-year census,” Patel said. “The expectation is, if we’re going to have redevelopment, especially if it’s mixed use, we’re going to have residential. That’s just the nature of things.”
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Jesse Wright is a freelancer.