Cubework to turn Orland Park Sears site into Coworking Mall

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By Bob Bong

That vast empty space at Orland Square Mall that was once the home of retail giant Sears may be getting new life.

California-based Cubework has purchased the former Sears property at Orland Square Mall and is marketing the former mall anchor store as a Coworking Mall.

The 16-acre purchase includes about 100,000 square feet in the former Sears store as well as the massive parking lot adjacent to the storefront.

The majority of the mall is owned by Simon, but the former Sears site was separate and the property was being marketed by CBRE’s National Retail Partners without an asking price. No sales price was announced.

Calls to Cubework were not returned, but according to its website, the company specializes in renting kiosks and other spaces to pop-up shops and a host of small businesses. Cubework offers short-term and month-to-month leases, free utilities, free Wi-Fi and other amenities without requiring huge capital investments.

“Our Cubework Shops is an open air enclosed creative space specifically designed to get your business out of your garage, self-storage facility, or home office. We focus on helping our customers rent the space they need without having to pay for unnecessary unused space,” the company says on its website.

Its website says spaces from 300 square feet to 50,000 square feet are available for lease.

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said he was “kind of surprised by the sale.”

He added he has no idea what will become of the property.

“I have no idea what they have planned,” he said. “They have not come to us with any plan.”

Pekau said the interior of the store, which has been empty since 2018, has been gutted.

There was a plan in place years ago to convert the space into a movie theater, but Pekau said that plan fell through because of COVID-related issues.

Cubework also purchased the former Carsons store at Southlake Mall in northwest Indiana and is advertising it along with the Sears site as a Coworking Mall.

Cubework is based in City of Industry in California. It has more than 40 locations and 5 million square feet of modern industrial co-working space in 25 cities.