“We’re going to bring the mall back to its greatest days.”
With these words, Rich Turasky, founder and president of Capital Realty and Development of Elgin, announced April 12 that his company has purchased the Huntley Outlet Center. The deal was closed on Monday, April 11. Turasky declined to reveal the purchase price.
Contacted the following day by the Sun Day, Turasky said he plans to collaborate with the village to renovate and upgrade the nearly 30-year-old factory outlets center.
“We are local commercial players in the Elgin and Chicago areas and we have spent a lot of time in Huntley recently, talking to village officials,” he said. “We are excited to be in Huntley and we are impressed with the pro-business attitude of the village’s leaders.”
Huntley Outlet Center was built in the 1980s and quickly filled up almost all of its more than 70 factory outlet retail spaces at a time when outlet malls were rapidly expanding and gaining popularity among Chicago area shoppers. About a decade later, it was one of several such malls purchased by Simon Properties, one of the nation’s largest mall-management and development companies.
In recent years, however, the Huntley Center faded into obscurity, for a combination of reasons: several years of distracting highway construction on Route 47 and the I-90 tollway, completion of the Huntley tollway interchange expansion that hasn’t brought additional traffic to the center, and the economic downturn in 2008-09. By 2008, most of the mall’s tenants had departed, and the center’s parking lot and infrastructure fell into disrepair. Simon invested heavily in several other Chicago-area commercial properties, but did little to improve conditions or fill vacancies in Huntley. Simon put the mall up for sale last year.
At the time of this sale to Capital, less than 30 of the mall’s more than 70 spaces are occupied. Current tenants include The Gap, Reebok, Carter’s Childrenswear, Christopher and Banks, Dress Barn, Gusto’s Fun House, Huntley Antique & Jewelry, Jazzercise, Sweet Repeats, Darna Furniture, Oshkosh B’gosh, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, G.H. Bass & Co., SAS Shoes, Skechers, Wilson’s Leather, Hearing Help Express, and Corningware Corelle. In addition, there are three fast food restaurants in the food court – Asian Express, Cinnamonster, and Great Steak & Potato.
Later last week, Huntley Village Manager Dave Johnson confirmed that village officials and Capital met recently to discuss the mall’s future.
“We welcome the chance to partner with Capital to upgrade this property, and we are optimistic that that can be accomplished, but it will take some time,” Johnson said. “We have communicated our concerns about the physical deterioration of the property to them, and our expectations are that those concerns will be addressed.”
In recent months, while the sale of the center dragged on, the village has explored other future options for the property, and has filed a legal complaint against Simon Properties for what it says are unsafe conditions at the mall for shoppers. This latter action will probably be withdrawn as the village turns its attention to working with Capital.
“We’ve gotten to know many village officials in recent weeks,” Turasky said. “We have been inspired by them. We plan to catch our breath briefly, and then sit down with the village to work out a plan for the mall. I like Huntley and its people. I got my pilot’s license while flying on the Huntley air strip.”
According to the company’s website, Turasky founded Capital Realty and Development, LLC, in 2002. He was formerly a principal and director of brokerage services at a major Chicago real estate firm, where he was involved in industrial real estate transactions totaling more than 50 million square feet, representing approximately $750 million of value. Capital’s executive management has more than 90 years of combined experience and have collectively been involved in the development, acquisition, leasing, construction, financing, ownership, and management of more than 100 million square feet of investment grade real estate throughout the U.S.
“The size of (our) investments varies depending on the specific opportunity and market conditions, but we generally seek real estate investments requiring a minimum total project cost between $2 million and $50 million,” the website says.
