Westfield Old Orchard Redevelopment Plans To Include Medical Offices

SKOKIE, IL — Starting as soon as next year, Skokie residents could have the chance to live, work and receive health care without leaving the mall.

The owner of Old Orchard shopping center, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, plans to include up to 200,000 square feet of medical office space as part of redevelopment plans, according to the firm assigned with leasing the space.

The space is expected to be available for lease next year — either included as part of an planned mixed-use building or as a free-standing "build to suit."

Representatives of the mall landlord have already announced plans to add about 350 apartments to the north side of Westfield Old Orchard, with an executive at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, or URW, previously telling Patch the Paris-based company aims to secure village approval for the first phase of redevelopment at the mall by the end of 2023.

Stephen Fluhr, senior vice president of development for the Paris-based firm, this week said the addition of commercial space for health care tenants will make the mall "more impactful and engaging" for the area.

“With the addition of this healthcare space, Westfield Old Orchard will be further established as a top live, work, shop and play destination on the North Shore," Fluhr said in a statement.

"A guest can visit any time of day to accomplish daily tasks like shopping for groceries, visiting a premiere collection of restaurants and retailers, stopping at the bank or pharmacy, and make a trip to the doctor’s office."

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Jones Lang LaSalle, or JLL, a commercial real estate services company, is managing the leasing of the mall's future medical space, which will be available in 2024.

Every year, 9.7 million people visit Old Orchard Mall, which currently includes 17 restaurants, 143 retailers, two fitness studios and 1.7 million-square-feet of retail space, according to JLL.

JLL Senior managing Director Greg Gerber said in a statement that health care space at the mall represented the "next wave" of healthcare delivery by bringing care closer to patients and near other amenities and services in a single central spot.

“Westfield Old Orchard is leading from the front in helping accelerate this shift in healthcare delivery," Gerber said. "For top healthcare systems who are seeking growth and brand enhancement at a high potential location with premium amenities and retail, it will be hard to find a better opportunity. This is a signature leasing project that we are thrilled about.”

Anchor tenant Bloomingdale's closed in August, with its owner opening a new store called Bloomie's in a smaller space in November.

Also last year, the Skokie Village Board voted to create a new business district for the "blighted" mall, approve a redevelopment agreement with URW and raise sales taxes there by 1 percent.

According to village staff, Skokie receives between $5 million and $6 million in sales tax revenue from the mall every year. And the mall owners also pay about $14 million in property tax, of which the village receives approximately $850,000 and most of the rest goes to local public school districts.

URW executives have previously told investigators they aim to sell off most of their mall properties in the U.S. by next year.

The publicly traded company operates nearly 80 shopping centers in a dozen countries, in addition to other commercial real estate ventures. As of the middle of last year, its $58 billion portfolio was made up of 87 percent retail, 6 percent offices, 5 percent convention and exhibition venues and 2 percent in services.

As of January, the company had sold off $1.3 billion worth of U.S. assets, GlobeSt reported, most recently The Village in Los Angeles, Westfield Trumball in Trumball, Connecticut, and Westfield South Shore in Bay Shore, New York.

Earlier: Old Orchard Owner Unveils Redevelopment Plan For Apartments At Mall