The owner of Westfield Old Orchard mall in Skokie announced new tenants Tuesday to take over the former Lord & Taylor space, a major step in the property’s redevelopment as it moves past a reliance on old-style department stores.
Home furnishings store Arhaus and fashion brand Zara will move into the space in 2024, said Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the Paris-based owner of the mall. Zara will relocate from a smaller store already in the mall. They will join Puttshack, a high-tech mini golf attraction that previously said it would move into the old department store.
The space will be reconstructed and will get a new facade, part of the mall’s transformation into a lifestyle and community gathering place.
Commonly called Old Orchard, the center is a retail destination for a wealthy North Shore clientele but has struggled to adapt to new shopping habits. While it still has more than 100 stores, it lost anchors Lord & Taylor in 2018 and Bloomingdale’s in 2022. Bloomingdale’s stayed in the mall but as a smaller format called Bloomie’s.
Unibail plans to replace some of the excess retail space with a public park, event space and residential buildings, starting in 2024 and opening in phases in 2026. Also planned is about 200,000 square feet for health care services, real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle said in March after it was hired to market the space.
Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen said housing plans have not been submitted and must go through the village’s zoning process. “It’s all very tentative and in flux. The housing probably will be rental but that’s not certain yet,” he said.
The mall’s senior general manager, Serge Khalimsky, said the ownership is committed to adding retailers and experiences. “This is only the beginning, and we look forward to sharing more about our plans for Old Orchard very soon,” Khalimsky said in a news release. A spokesperson would not provide further details.
The mall’s reworking has general backing from Skokie officials, who in 2022 levied an extra 1 percentage point sales tax on Old Orchard transactions. Money from the higher tax is supposed to reimburse the mall’s owner for some redevelopment costs.
The mayor said Unibail has made “remarkable progress” in enhancing the outdoor mall.
At 1.7 million square feet, Old Orchard is the largest source of sales tax revenue for Skokie.
Unibail, with retail properties in 12 countries, said it wanted to purge many U.S. holdings in 2022 as the pandemic affected sales. But it told retail analysts this summer that it had adjusted those plans and now wants to keep its best performing assets in the U.S.
