Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles, one of the few remaining family-owned malls in the Chicago area, will probably not have that status much longer.
CBRE, a real estate brokerage firm, has listed the mall as for sale on its website. CBRE also made the announcement at the International Council of Shopping Centers conference May 19-23, said Ross Klicker, economic development coordinator for the village of Niles. The listing does not contain an asking price.
"We're just starting the process. There is no asking price," said George Good of CBRE. "We'll talk to people who typically like to own these types of shopping centers, and ask for a letter of interest, and see where we stand."
Such letters of interest would typically contain a ballpark price.
Mall a huge part of village of Niles
The mall functions as a huge economic engine for the village of Niles, helping to make it one of the top municipalities for retail sales in Illinois. Consequently, the village hopes to smooth the transition to a buyer, which would likely be a large real estate investment firm, though Good said he's not ruling any buyers out.
"We're going to work with any potential buyers to ensure the needs of the village are met by whoever owns the mall," Klicker said.
No way to know how long sale will take
Asked how long purchases of malls usually take, Klicker said that he could have given an estimate before the recession and the consequent decline in real estate prices. In the current conditions, though, there's no telling. The last nearby mall to be purchased was Randhurst in Mount Prospect, he said, but that was before the recession.
"And if you think it's difficult to get financing for a house, just imagine what it would be for a mall," he said.
With conditions so up in the air, it's also difficult to guess what changes or improvements a new buyer might make to the mall. Good speculated, however, that they might upgrade or modernize and bring new tenants in.
Family ownership has remained behind-the-scenes
The Cuneo family, which is associated with the Cuneo mansion in Libertyville, currently owns Golf Mill, but has been extremely behind-the-scenes. Last year, when mall representatives appeared before the Niles village board to ask them to create business district status for the mall, one trustee asked who the owner of the mall was.
Earlier: Niles businesses need upgrades to compete
Earlier: Niles nixes extra sales tax at Golf Mill
At that time, the mall was asking the village to create business district status and collect a 0.25% increase in sales tax on purchases at the mall, to be funneled into infrastructure improvements at the mall. Several trustees voiced the opinion that the owners had not invested enough money over the decades to properly maintain the mall, and address flooding issues. Consequently, the board turned down the mall's request for the business district and sales tax hike.
Calls to CBRE, the real estate brokerage firm. were not immediately returned.
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