The long-shuttered Sears property in the Orland Square Mall may soon have a new tenant as the village is moving forward with plans for Dick’s Sporting Goods to redevelop more than 100,000-square-feet of space into a Dick’s House of Sport at the southern end of the mall.
Trustees recently approved a term sheet with Dick’s to convert more than 90,495 square feet of retail space and 28,566 square feet of non-sales space into an area that would include a climbing wall, indoor batting cage, golf simulator, yoga classes, juice bar, running track, and an outdoor athletic field.
The agreement also provides incentives to redevelop the property, which has been vacant for the last six years.
The village created a tax increment financing district to help cover some of the costs of the development. A TIF uses property tax revenue from the growth of property values within the specific area to fund development.
As property values increase due to new development, the additional tax revenue generated – the tax increment – is captured and placed into a special fund. This fund is used to pay for improvements like infrastructure, job training or vacant building redevelopment within the district.
Mayor Jim Dodge said “malls these days face challenges. Orland Square Mall has its issues, too,” he said. “The village receives a good amount of money from its sales tax. We need to do what we can to help make our businesses successful.”
Trustee Bill Healy called the board’s signing of the term agreement “a step forward for both parties involved.”
“This is a new concept for Dick’s (Sporting Goods),” Healy said. “In other places where they have done this, they have seen an increase in sales,” he said. “Parents can drop their kids off (at DSG) and go shopping in the mall.”
DSG’s officials are expected to approve the agreement by the middle of September. Construction could begin as early as 2027 with completion scheduled for 2029.
Dick’s operates a retail store in the nearby Orland Park Place mall, which is not expected to be affected by the new facility.
It would be nice to have a dance sport area for socials for all ages as faning is a healthy sport that is a trained class requirement of healthy fun to recruit more interest. The ballroom have disappeared and was the #1 human interaction for health and happiness before all the health clubs. Bring this back as an add on and I can help as a trained dancer. Im also connected to over 2,000 dancers around the world and mostly in Chicagoland. I’ve also danced on the Bulls court which is live video 3/21/11. Dancing great cardio while cognitive learning memory and lots of fun with the music the talks to your body movement.
Thanks for your time!
Nancy Hudson
fancynan60@gmail.com