BRADLEY — The village of Bradley is now the owner of the Carson’s men’s store in the Northfield Square mall.

Time will tell if this move is a stroke of genius or one which could become a regional punchline.

The $1.1 million transaction of the vacant, 80,000-square-foot former mall anchor store was completed in December 2019.

The village administration announced in mid-October it was negotiating on the property and had every intention of taking control of the property.

The village actually was purchasing the property from Tower Bourbonnais LLC, which is based in Woodland, Calif., and has owned the property since 2015.

The company purchased the property for $1.47 million when Namdar Real Estate, the owner of Northfield Square, moved to sell the mall’s anchor properties.

Mike Watson, Bradley’s mayor pro tem, who had been leading the effort, said it would be hard to say how long the village will own the property.

In December, he said the village already had some inquiries regarding the property from investment organizations.

“We’ve created some interest,” he said. “Someone has come forward. I don’t know what may come of it, but we hadn’t even closed on it and we were getting some calls.”

Watson said the village also could enter into a partnership with another entity. The table is wide open, he said, regarding development options. The option discussed to this point is transforming the former department store into a convention center-type property.

This concept does have some legs to stand on, as the mall area is home to several hotels.

The mall opened in August 1990 with anchor locations filled by one Carson’s store, Sears, JCPenney and Venture. Venture closed within the first few years of its opening.

Carson’s later split its men’s and women’s locations, becoming two of the mall’s anchor stores. Carson’s closed both of the Northfield stores in mid-2018.

Since its opening, Northfield has struggled with occupancy. The mall, in a high-traffic area and immediately off of an Interstate 57 interchange, is currently less than 40 percent leased.

Bradley’s Mayor Pro Tem Mike Watson discussed the village board's thought process in 2019 as it worked toward purchasing the building:

At some point, he said at the time, action has to be taken as the mall is only about 30 percent occupied.

“It’s long past the time for an administration to start looking at this,” the mayor said. “There is no savior that’s going to come in and ignite this. It’s down three anchors [stores]. This is urgent.”

Watson, however, said it was far too early to discuss any type of detail. But with hotels developing around the Northfield perimeter, it was clear the mall property must play a key role in keeping the area vibrant.

“I think it’s clear Bradley wants to make an investment to ignite activity for the hotels. There is no igniter waiting in the wings. ... We are not going to allow this to deteriorate. That’s not going to happen. ...

“... We certainly don’t know what the ultimate picture may be here. But we have to have discussions. We are engaged. It’s important to sustain this area as the retail and hotel hub. What it may ultimately look like, I don’t know.”