All but 1 store closed at Huntley Outlet Center

HUNTLEY – When the Huntley Outlet Center, then called Huntley Factory Shops, opened in August 1994, customers who came to shop on opening day filled up the 1,300 parking spaces before noon.

Some shoppers rode in shuttle buses to the outlet mall from Deicke Park on Route 47. About 39 out of 48 leased stores were open with expansions planned for the future.

On Friday, about a dozen cars sat in the parking lot outside of the Banana Republic Factory store – the only store that hasn’t closed.

Directory signs on the property are empty, windows on closed stores are covered and orange safety cones and yellow caution signs sit on cracked sidewalks.

Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group sold the mall in April 2016 when it was less than half full. Huntley Investment Partners LLC, a group made up of California-based Craig Realty Group, Chicago's Prime Group Inc. and Elgin's Capital Realty and Development, bought the property.

The village has taken a hit from the decline of the center, which Village Manager Dave Johnson has said is the front doorstep to the community.

The mall is located at Route 47 and Interstate 90, where a $61 million full interchange opened in 2013.

Huntley invested about $6 million in the interchange, Johnson said.

“We’re certainly, at this point, looking forward to continuing the conversations with the new ownership to redevelop the site into something we can all be proud of,” Johnson said.

In 2002, the center generated $346,743 in total sales tax – compared with the $124,884 generated in 2015, according to village documents.

In 2016, $94,836 in sales tax was generated through October, documents show. Village records do not break down the amount received from the mall before 2002.

The village received half of the total sales tax from the center, and the rest went to the developer to pay back the tax increment financing district bonds, documents show.

The TIF for that property expired in 2016.  

“We hate to lose that revenue that’s been created over the years,” Johnson said.

In February 2016, the village filed an ordinance complaint saying the property had fallen into disrepair, Village Attorney John Cowlin has said.

The center was cited for more than 190 violations, Cowlin said, including damaged sidewalks and parking lots, rusted light poles, crumbled brick and landscaping that is not maintained.

Cowlin said Thursday that the village will be refiling the case because of technical problems.

“The compliant listed the violations when it was originally filed against prior owners,” Cowlin said, adding now village staff will go to the property to see whether there are any additional violations.

The village likely will be paid a fine based on the severity of each violation, Cowlin said.

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While the Huntley Outlet Center is failing, others continue to grow.

From 2016 to 2018, there were 43 planned outlet center projects in the U.S. in 20 states, International Council of Shopping Centers reported in 2015.

During that same time frame, nine expansions of existing centers were planned, according to council figures. Simon Property completed two expansions in 2015 in Aurora and San Francisco.

Simon’s expansion at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora added about 250,000 square feet of outdoor shopping space, including 30 new and expanded stores.

The Aurora mall is one of the 10 largest outlet malls in the country, industry figures show.

One of the reasons why the Huntley Outlet Center failed could be because the owner was investing more money into other properties, said Phyllis Ezop, president of LaGrange Park-based Ezop and Associates, a consulting firm that researches business success and failure.

“A lot of it is location based, and some of the other ones do have better locations (than the Huntley Outlet Center,]” Ezop said.

In general, Ezop said consumers still are shopping at outlets.

“I think we’re in a point where a lot of consumers do want value and they would see that coming from outlet malls,” Ezop said.

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The village is in the process of working with property owners on a redevelopment agreement for the site, Johnson said.

“The property is right at the front doors, right in the entryway, to our community and the appearance is going to be important,” Johnson said. “And the mix of uses are obviously important to us in making sure it’s not just a one-dimensional type of project – it’s one that, again, can support or make its way through ups and downs in the economy.”

With the site’s proximity to the interchange, Johnson added he hopes the area will be a job creator that serves not only the village of Huntley, but the region as a whole.

Rich Turasky, president of Capital Companies LLC and a Lake in the Hills resident, brought together the group of property owners who bought the property.

Owners will submit for a zoning change in the property to Office/Research Industrial District, Turasky said in an email.

“We would like to demo the property in part or in whole, subject to us receiving our requested zoning submission, which is pretty general in nature to allow us to go after whoever wants to be there,” Turasky said in the email.

General RV Center, located next door to the center, is planning an expansion on 8 acres of the property, Turasky said. Representatives from General RV could not be reached for more information.

Turasky and Banana Republic would not say when the last store will close.