The Plaza poised for rebirth

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The interior center court of The Plaza in Evergreen Park is shown in this file photo. The shopping center may soon have a new owner that plans to redevelop the property.

Updated: March 18, 2012 8:14AM

The Plaza, the Southland’s oldest enclosed mall, could get new life and a new look as its ownership appears set to change.

GMX Real Estate Group has a contract to purchase the mall, at the southwest corner of 95th Street and Western Avenue, and essentially would demolish the existing buildings and start from scratch, according to Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton.

He said Thursday he was unsure when GMX might close on the purchase. A principal with the firm did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Sexton said village officials have talked with GMX about its plans, which essentially call for putting up freestanding buildings to replace what’s there now. Tenants would be moved to the new buildings once they’re finished, and then the old structures would be razed to make room for parking, the mayor said.

“It’s a very big deal and long overdue,” Sexton said. “Hopefully we can make this work as soon as possible.”

Originally Evergreen Plaza, the shopping center opened almost 60 years ago as an open-air mall, with Jewel, Kroger and Carson Pirie Scott among the early anchors. Developed by Arthur Rubloff, the mall was enclosed in the early 1960s.

Carsons is the only anchor that remains today, and Sexton said Carsons has committed to staying. The department store would be housed in a two-story building that, at 120,000 square feet, would be half the size of its current store.

The Plaza is about two-thirds leased, according to real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis. It said the newest tenant, Planet Fitness, recently agreed to a 10-year lease of the vacant Office Depot space.

Technically, Northbrook-based GMX isn’t buying The Plaza so much as it’s buying the mall’s mortgage note, which is in arrears for about $20 million. The lender, Wells Fargo, filed last June to foreclose on the mortgage, and a court named a receiver to oversee The Plaza.

Before the foreclosure, The Provo Group, the managing general partner of the mall, had been trying to raise money to do what GMX is proposing. Bruce Provo, the company’s president, proposed de-malling portions of The Plaza, reverting to its open-air past — similar to how the enclosed and virtually empty Orland Court mall in Orland Park was turned inside out and revived several years ago.

Sexton said village officials “have been talking to them (GMX) for quite some time and they are ready to move forward” on The Plaza acquisition. Locally, GMX developed Mokena Marketplace at U.S. 30 and Wolf Road in Mokena and Southmoor Commons on LaGrange Road in Orland Park.

The Plaza’s possible redevelopment comes as plans continue to move forward to build as much as 400,000 square feet of retail space at the former Evergreen Golf and Country Club. Menards and Meijer reportedly are considering anchoring that development, and Sexton said “we’re hoping to get that off the ground in a few months.”

Several years ago, the Drury Lane Theatre and Martinique Restaurant dinner-theater near 95th and Western were torn down to allow construction of a Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.