Editor's Note: The video in this story is from a previous report.
Newly released renderings show what the once-bustling but now shuttered Stratford Square Mall in suburban Bloomingdale could look like in a reimagined way: Welcome to the Grove at Bloomingdale Commons.
The preliminary renderings were revealed as part of a public meeting Tuesday, titled "Stratford Square Mall Transformation." The meeting, hosted by the village board and mayor Franco Coladipietro, discussed the project, meant to "enhance Bloomingdale's future and revitalize what the village described as one of the community's "key landmarks."
The renderings come months after the decades-old Stratford Square Mall closed its doors for good after failed negotiations between the village and the mall's owner.
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.
Demolition on the space is set to take place in October, at a cost of $4.7 million.
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. The drawings also also showed residences, a waterway and a public park.
Here's a look at some of the initial renderings for the Grove at Bloomingdale Commons, courtesy Village of Bloomingdale:
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Coladipietro said infrastructure costs for the project would be financed through bonds and a TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, earned from forthcoming commercial real estate.
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"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.
"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.
