Old Orchard Owner Unveils Redevelopment Plan For Apartments At Mall

SKOKIE, IL — The owner of Westfield Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie this week offered the first public look at architectural renderings of the first phase of a nine-figure redevelopment plan.

Representatives of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, or URW, the mall's Paris-based parent company, revealed plans to demolish a recently shuttered anchor tenant and add about 350 apartments to the shopping center.

Stephen Fluhr, URW's senior vice president of development, said the company is currently looking for a residential co-developer to partner on the next phase of its redevelopment project at Old Orchard, which first opened in 1956.

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The mall landlord is looking to add density to the north end of the shopping center as part of an overall reimagining of the site as it look to find ways to improve it, Flur said.

"In order to do that, what we're doing is we're looking at introducing complimentary uses to the site. Multi-family is certainly a piece of that, but there's also additional uses that we look at over time as well — it could be medical office, it could be hotel — that are all really focused on community integration, kind of village-making, place-making, city-making for the site that takes Old Orchard from what it is today and essentially continues to elevate it and offers a whole different aspect of how people can enjoy the site," Flur said.

"So certainly a portion of that is the introduction of the multi-family residential, the apartments, that sit above this really vibrant ground plane that connects it all together, where we create a town green, Main Street-type retail," he said. "It allows us to diversify the uses that are there at the site that just continue to add to the reasons why people come to Old Orchard."

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URW hopes to secure village approval for the first phase of redevelopment at the mall by the end of 2023, according to the executive.

Separately, work on the former Lord & Taylor space was approved last month by the Appearance Commission.

It is expected to be underway by February and completed during the third quarter of 2023. The structure is being divided into four spaces, and tenants have been lined up.

"We're not quite there in terms of announcing the names of the uses yet, but we are very excited by all of the brands that we are in negotiation with," Fluhr said.

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The revelation of the residential redevelopment plans come nine months after the Skokie Village Board established a new business district for the mall and hiked sales taxes there by 1 percent.

Money collected from the new district sales tax fund will be set aside for the mall's landlord to cover eligible redevelopment costs.

According to the redevelopment agreement with the village, the mall's ownership can be reimbursed for $84 million in redevelopment costs and "also intends to invest a further $100 million of its own funds at Old Orchard unrelated to the [Business District Plan], as and when it determines necessary or appropriate."

In April, the month after the agreement was approved, village staff confirmed URW was considering building homes at the mall.

In recent months, luxury retailer Louis Vuitton opened a store at the mall and bookseller Barnes & Noble has reopened a store in a new, interim location.

While longtime anchor tenant Bloomingdale's has closed permanently, its parent company last month replaced it with a 51,000-square-foot "Bloomie's" location at Old Orchard, the second of the retailer's smaller "highly curated" stores.

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Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen said in a statement that Old Orchard has been a key driver of jobs and the local economy for decades.

“Westfield and URW’s commitment to significantly invest and transform Old Orchard continues both this important economic growth and the Village’s long-standing, collaborative partnership with property ownership," Van Dusen said.

"The Village Board’s action earlier this year to designate Old Orchard as one of over 200 Illinois Business Districts has resulted in Westfield’s financial commitment of over $100 million to transform Old Orchard," he said.

According to URW officials, the redevelopment will incorporate the use of renewable energy, biophilic design, biodiversity and natural materials. The renderings released Tuesday show the addition of rooftop solar arrays at the shopping center.

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"I applaud Westfield’s focus on sustainability with this new vision, as is consistent with the Village’s recently approved comprehensive Environmental Sustainability Plan," Van Dusen said. "The additional announcements and developments at Old Orchard in the coming year will further strengthen this tremendous community and regional asset.”

URW officials also plan to start a multi-year redevelopment of the mall's common areas and may look for additional developers with which to partner on future phases of the redevelopment, according to Fluhr.

"As we move through time, we'll continue to reevaluate what we feel is the best merchandising play, to use a retail term, for the center, in terms of the various asset classes that we would look to introduce," he said. "If it's something other than retail, if it's hotel or if it's medical office, generally, then we would seek another co-developer that's expert in that field as well."

Related: Old Orchard Owner Adds New Stores, Considers Residential Development