Carson's: Fate Of Louis Mall Anchor Gets Decided This Week
JOLIET, IL — Property near the Louis Joliet Mall is thriving these days. The new Costco will open next month, just up the road at the Interstate 55 exit for Route 30. Construction on Joliet's first Chick-fil-A is well underway, and the double drive thru is expected to open in the next two or three months. But the large Louis mall itself is not thriving.
Starting Monday, investment companies from all over the nation are expected to enter a bidding war to determine the new owner of the vacant Carson Pirie Scott property. Carson's closed in 2018, and the former mall anchor has been vacant for two years now.
The online auction will last until 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.
For the unfamiliar, the Joliet mall's anchor stores, including J.C. Penney, Sears and Macy's, are not owned by the parent company that owns the Louis Mall, according to city of Joliet officials. That's why there's an online auction through LoopNet starting Monday for the 126,000-square-foot retail space in Joliet.
So far, 248,405 people have viewed the LoopNet listing for the Carson Pirie Scott property in Joliet. City officials told Patch they are confident the former Carson store will draw national interest for a variety of reasons, notably because the land is near one of the Chicago suburbs busiest corridors, I-55 and Route 30.
The online auction will take place Monday through Wednesday, with the starting bid for the Carson's property set at $550,000.
The former retail department store property includes 11 acres. The Carson's store was built in 1978.
There is some question whether the rest of the Louis Mall property is on its final legs of existence. Last week, WJOL reported that Starwood Realty Partners may be losing the mall.
The company's last loan payment on the mall was made the same month that the coronavirus outbreak occurred, in March.
As far as the Carson's property is concerned, the next owner may want to turn the former retail store into apartments or condominiums. Maybe the Carson's will be redeveloped as a giant tobacco outlet. Perhaps someone will see it as a great location to open a church.
Others may want to repurpose the property for a massive indoor laser tag venue with indoor bumper cars or an escape room entertainment complex.
For now, nobody knows for sure what the future holds for the Carson's in Joliet. But perhaps the fate of the 11-acre parcel will be decided by the end of this week.
This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
