Uncertainty over the future ownership of the former Carson Pirie Scott property at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, disappeared Jan. 12 when The Feil Organization purchased the 11.55-acre parcel, which includes a 181,000-square-foot, two-story retail box and a good chunk of the mall’s west parking lot and ring road.
In a press release announcing the sale, The Feil Organization did not disclose the purchase price and the property sale has not been recorded by the Cook County Clerk. The property’s future has been an open question since Carson Pirie Scott closed its doors in August 2018 about six months after its parent, The Bon Ton Stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
“We’ve worked for years to try to get control of the parcel, and we’re definitely looking at multiple plans,” Glenn Lindholm, general manager of North Riverside Park Mall, said in a phone interview. “We’re just overjoyed we now have control of the property.
“It’s not going to stay vacant for long.”
Since Carson Pirie Scott’s liquidation in 2018, its North Riverside property had been in receivership while embroiled in foreclosure proceedings in Cook County Circuit Court. In 2021, the receiver listed the property for sale with the commercial real estate firm CBRE.
The previous owner of the Carson’s property in North Riverside acquired the parcel in 1998 for about $14 million.
The Feil Organization operates shopping malls in Illinois, Louisiana and New York and has owned the North Riverside Park Mall, except for the three anchor properties, since 2004.
The north anchor property, which includes the former Sears big box, the former Sears Auto Center and areas of the north and west parking lots, is owned by Seritage Growth Properties. The south anchor property, which includes a big box store and parts of the south and east parking lots, has been owned by J.C. Penney since the mall’s inception in the mid-1970s.
In a press release, Jeffrey Feil, CEO of The Feil Organization, said the company was finalizing redevelopment plans for the former Carson’s property.
“Owning this site supports our ongoing focus to enhance the value of North Riverside Park Mall for the community, strengthens our engagement with the village of North Riverside and reaffirms The Feil Organization’s commitment to elevate the shopping center,” Feil said.
