The Orland Park Village Board last week approved a redevelopment agreement for Dick’s House of Sports, taking the next step in redeveloping the long-shuttered former Sears property at Orland Square Mall into a 100,000-square-foot mixed use space at the southern end of the mall.
Trustees approved a term sheet back in August to convert more than 90,000 square feet of retail space and 28,000 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.
Village Manager George Koczwara at the Dec. 1 village board meeting said the redevelopment agreement “sets terms for the development, including enhancements to the facade, parking lot and other portions of the building.”
Koczwara said as part of the development, the village will establish a tax increment financing district that will improve stormwater capacity for the entire mall, improve the traffic signal at Regent Drive and 153rd Street while offering incentives for Dick’s to move the development forward.
The TIF will help cover some of the costs of redeveloping the property, which has been vacant for the last six years. A TIF uses property tax revenues from the growth of property values within the specific area to fund development.
As property values increase based on new development, the additional tax revenue generated – the tax increment – is captured and placed into a special fund. That fund is used to pay for improvements like infrastructure, job training or vacant building redevelopment within the TIF district. TIF districts can last up to 23 years.
Construction could begin as early as 2027 with completion scheduled for 2029.