Contract Buyers to Preview Charlestowne Mall Re-launch

The languishing Charlestowne Mall has been a concern for residents and city officials for years, but a contract buyer for the East Side property has big changes in store as it plans to re-launch the site.

The city posted a release on its website Friday afternoon announcing that San Francisco-based The Krausz Companies Inc., will present its plans for the redevelopment and re-launch of the Charlestowne Mall, which would include a partial demolition along the southwest quadrant of the mall.

The mall buyers’ goal is to turn the property into a a regional destination for people of all ages. The mall would offer shopping, dining, entertainment, and serve as a gathering place.

The intent, Community Development Director Rita Tungare said late Friday afternoon, is to increase the mall’s visibility from East Main Street/Route 64 by opening up views and entrances to the building, as well as developing more outlots to “put more retail closer to Route 64.”

The developers intend to preserve the basic footprint of the property — it would remain an enclosed mall, and the anchors would remain in place.

She described the changes in the conceptual plan as significant but not radical, and that they are consistent with the city’s newly adopted 2013 Comprehensive Plan.

In terms of the changes to the mall’s main entrances, think glass. Artist renderings of the plan show a lot more windows on the front of the mall.

The Krausz Companies Inc. has entered into a contract to purchase the mall, which was opened with great fanfare in 1991 but since has declined. The mall was purchased for $9.5 million in 2010 by a group of California investors who initially announced plans to revitalize the facility but did not follow through completely.

That has left the mall the focus of concern among residents who want more shopping options and local government officials who would like to see the mall generating its full potential of tax revenues as possible.

Concern about the mall’s future was a key issue in the spring mayoral race, with ome candidates saying they would fly to California to talk with the owners about redeveloping the property — or convincing them to sell the site to someone who would revitalize it.

The prospect that new investors were looking at the mall generated some hope back in January, but there was little else to that information — until mid-August, when word got out that the mall was under contract for sale.

The City Council Planning and Development Committee omeets at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, in the City Council Chambers.

According to the city’s release, the project is being presented for informational purposes. Later, the St. Charles Plan Commission will hold a formal public hearing process on the project. That process likely will begin in October.

The public is welcome to attend Monday night’s meeting to get a first glance at the proposal.