Redevelopment underway at Stratford Square Mall

BLOOMINGDALE – Developers hope to restore Stratford Square Mall to its former glory with a three-phase project currently underway at the shopping center.

Northbrook-based company StreetMac, LLC, which purchased the mall in 2013 with Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, opened an entertainment complex at Stratford Square the weekend of Oct 18 and 19.

StreetMac is also working with development experts, and plans to update two of the mall's entrances and add two junior anchor tenants, as well as new restaurant and entertainment options and national retailers. Additionally, the project includes incorporating fire pits, more seating and new landscaping in the center's outdoor areas.

“The goal of this redevelopment is to bring Stratford Square back to the regional prominence it once had,” said Anthony Giannini, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for StreetMac.

Giannini said the mall peaked in the 1980s and '90s, and that StreetMac's project is a reconceptualization of the previous owner's improvement plans for the center, which stalled in 2008 after the opening of the mall's Cinemark Century movie theater. Tenant occupancy was at an all-time low then, but is now on the rise.

The project will not add square footage to the 1.3 million-square-foot mall, but rather will redevelop what's already there by combining space to create the junior anchor tenants and converting retail locations into restaurants.

The undertaking is anticipated to cost more than $30 million, Giannini said.

Its first phase has already been completed, with the opening of Round One entertainment complex earlier this month. The 40,000-square-foot business offers bowling, billiards, gaming, karaoke and food and beverages.

Round One is a Japanese company that specializes in bowling and state-of-the-art arcade games. It is in the process of expanding, but currently its only other U.S. locations are in California.

“... we know Bloomingdale is the perfect Midwest market to launch Round One,” said company Senior Vice President Shane Kaji in a news release from StreetMac.

StreetMac has completed the plans for additional improvements and will request permits from the village in the coming months, Giannini said. The developer hopes to break ground on the project's second phase, which includes the new entrances, junior anchor tenants and restaurants, in the spring. StreetMac is not requesting any incentives from the village now, although Giannini said such a request could be a possibility at a later date.

The third phase of the project involves the addition of more national retailers at Stratford Square.

“The village board wholeheartedly supports this first major step in the reinvention of our regional mall and looks forward to more improvements in the near future,” said Bloomingdale Mayor Franco Coladipietro in the release.

Giannini said he anticipates completion of the redevelopment will take two to three years.