Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said he just found out about the move earlier this week. Hoffman Estates-based Sears sold its property directly to the state. That space has subsequently been leased out short term to Green Family Stores to sell cars. Simon succeeded in purchasing the former Bergner’s space for $1.75 million in February 2019.
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In March 2019, arts and crafts chain Michael’s opened in the space formerly occupied by defunct electronics retailer HH Gregg.Īnd that’s not to mention the development seen on the mall’s outlots fronting Wabash Avenue in recent years, including Chick-fil-A, which re-entered the Springfield market with a standalone restaurant in 2016.Īnd next year, national chains Mission BBQ and Mod Pizza are expected to join the mix, sharing a newly constructed strip development on the far southeast corner of the mall property.įormer mall manager Clay Emerich told the Springfield City Council in 2018 that part of parent company Simon Property Group’s plan was to pursue those anchor spaces - neither the Sears nor Bergner’s space was owned by the mall. In 2013, LA Fitness opened in the space previously occupied by Montgomery Ward at the south end of the mall.įive Guys Burger and Fries and Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant opened in 20, respectively, in space once occupied by White Oaks Cinema. The switch from brick-and-mortar retail to office space is a sign of the times as the former industry grapples with the trend toward online shopping, which has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.īy the same token, malls have been seeking to move away from a reliance on traditional retail to offer more entertainment, service or restaurant options.Įvidence of diversification has emerged slowly over the years. The two stores had been mainstays in the mall essentially since it opened in 1977. The state’s presence fills a significant hole in White Oaks, which lost two of its four anchor tenants - Sears and Bergner’s - within a week of each other in September 2018. “We need to take down a portion of the center of that building in order to construct the project, and those people need to be out of there, need to move, by sometime in 2023,” Moll said. But Jim Moll, a Hanson engineer overseeing the rail project, said it would have to be within the next three years to fit within the project’s timetable. The state offered no timetable on when IEPA may move into the new space. Design work has started, and a construction schedule is under development.
The Capital Development Board will oversee the building’s remodeling. Other state agencies housed in the existing IEPA building, such as the Illinois Pollution Control Board and Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology, will also have a presence at the new White Oaks space. More than 700 state employees will be impacted by the project. due to the Springfield Rail Improvements Project, “which will build a rail line that runs through the middle of the existing building,” said Marjani Williams, a spokeswoman with the llinois Department of Central Management Services. The plan is to utilize the space as the new headquarters of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which will soon need to vacate its current space at 1021 North Grand Ave. The state acquired the nearly 14-acre property, which includes the sprawling 130,530-square-foot former department store space, for $3.5 million in August, according to Sangamon County tax records. After sitting vacant for more than two years, a new anchor tenant is moving into the former Sears space at White Oaks Mall - the state of Illinois.
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