Editor's Note: The video in this story is from a previous report.
Months after the once-bustling Stratford Square Mall closed its doors for good, Bloomingdale Mayor Franco Coladipietro unveiled grand plans to redevelop the land where the now-defunct mall sits.
The plans, revealed during a community meeting Tuesday titled "Stratford Square Mall Transformation," included preliminary drawings for a new mall and area that will "enhance Bloomingdale's future" and revitalize the mall, described by the village one of the community's "key landmarks."
The ambitious redevelopment project, dubbed "The Grove at Bloomingdale Commons," is set to include entertainment venues, new retail options, community spaces, parks, a playground, restaurants, apartments and more, the plan said.
Renderings of the village's plan, from retail tenant firm Segovia Partners, show a sprawling outdoor plan, with fountains along with new walkways elaborate landscaping at the entrance of the mall. Renderings also show residences, a waterway and a public park.
Demolition is expected to begin in October, officials said, at a cost of $4.7 million. Officials added that bids were still being received on infrastructure, which Coladipietro said the village will be responsible for.
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Coladipietro added that infrastructure costs would be financed through bonds and a TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, earned from forthcoming commercial real estate.
"The idea is, that this financing is self-contained within that project," Coladipietro said, adding that the village is currently loaning money to the TIF.
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"Once that TIF starts becoming profitable, once buildings start going up," Coladipetrio said. "Then we pay the village back."
Coladipietro also said village will continue to own the property until there is a buyer for the project.
"Our idea is, essentially, we act as the general contractor or the developer of the property," Coladipietro said. Otherwise, the mall would be at risk of winding up in the same predicament that led to its closure in April 2024.
"It's going to put us back in the same situation of turning over property to people, who then once they have ownership of it, there's nothing that we can do," Coladipietro said, adding that many details, including expected revenue, hadn't been fleshed out.
"We're still working on it," Coladipietro said.
Coladipietro said the full redevelopment was expected to be completed in five to eight years.
The mall's plans come as other suburban malls -- including Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Golf Mill Mall in Niles and Fox Valley Mall in Aurora -- announced major redevelopment projects, including plans for new public parks and event spaces, apartments and more.
Suburban mall closings
In April 2024, the Village of Bloomingdale, which acquired Stratford Square Mall after failed attempts to collaborate with its owner, announced on Facebook that the mall would soon permanently close its doors.
"Stratford Square Mall, a product of the 1980s mall-building craze, has faced challenges while other enclosed malls adapted to changing retail landscapes," the post said. "Despite efforts by the Mayor and Village Board to collaborate with the mall’s owner, Namdar, negotiations faltered. Consequently, the Village of Bloomingdale took the initiative to acquire the mall and its anchor stores independently. After consolidating the property earlier this year, the Village is now poised to embark on a transformative mixed-use development."
The post also hinted at the upcoming redevelopment plans, which the village said would "revitalize" the area with "a blend of restaurants, entertainment venues, retail spaces, housing options, and public open spaces."
Earlier this spring, Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee and Carpentersville permanently closed after 40 years in operation.
