This is chapter two of the former Huntley Outlet Center’s final story.
On March 16, Huntley village officials issued the owners of the defunct mall a demolition permit to take down the buildings, most of the infrastructure, and advertising signs. All evidence of the once vibrant factory shops center will be gone no later than June 15, according to a court order.
This is the culmination of court action initiated by the village to address fire and life safety code violations on the outlet property. The village sued the owners on February 14 for fire alarm and sprinkler system violations that the village says led to a water leak at a lift station serving the site.
On February 28, the court issued a preliminary injunction for the property to come in to compliance with fire and life safety codes. The court found that continued non-compliance on the property is creating a danger to the public.
Based on this finding, the village and the property owners have entered into a settlement agreement to demolish the buildings and infrastructure. The settlement was approved by the village board on March 8.
According to a court order dated March 15, the demolition must commence by April 16 and be completed by June 15.
The parties to this agreement include, in addition to the village, Craig Realty, an outlet mall management company located in California; Capital Companies, a real estate investment firm located in Elgin; and The Prime Group, Chicago, owners of the land on which the outlet was located. Prime originally launched the Huntley Outlet Center in the 1980s.
The village issued a statement about all this that said, “We look forward to continued collaboration to bring new economic development opportunities to the I-90 corridor.”
The agreement clears the way for the village to take up a 2017 request by the owners to rezone the property from C-2 retail to OR-I—Office-Retail-Industrial. Charles Nordman, the village’s director of economic development, said the owners intend to subdivide the property to accommodate several possible future developments that could include a hotel, restaurants, retail facilities, offices, or light industrial facilities.
The demolition agreement includes the removal of the south parking lot next to the I-90 Tollway, but the north parking area closest to Freeman Road will remain.
In February, the Sun Day reported on the first event in this transition process, which was village board approval of a plan by General RV to expand its parking and vehicle service facilities into eight acres on the western side of the former mall’s property.
This demolition order comes almost exactly a year after the last store in the former mall relocated.
