Malls · Illinois

College Hills Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedOperatingNormal, IL

Opened 2005. Redeveloped in 2005.

Status nowOperatingextracted, unreviewed

documented

The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA.

en.wikipedia.org

What it becameretailextracted, unreviewed reported

Last sale$21.0M · 1986public reporting

Retrofit year2005extracted, unreviewed reported

Walkability14.3 of 20 · 15-minute 5 of 6EPA, OpenStreetMap

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

Reach the owner Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

College Hills Mall — Exterior view of a shopping center sign at dusk with surrounding landscape. · verified by a vision model. Photo: Shoppes at College Hills, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile16 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Finance and pipeline

On Facebook

This site: …https://www.facebook.com/189587047756765 overture · all sites with this

Website alive

This site: …http://www.theshoppesatcollegehills.com overture / http check · all sites with this

Place

15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)

This site: 5/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this

30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent road

This site: 42,911 on a counted road fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

County lost 10%+ of retail establishments since 2012

This site: -15% census-cbp · all sites with this

Grocery within 800 m

This site: 5 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this

High inland flooding risk

This site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this

High natural hazard risk (FEMA NRI)

This site: Relatively High; tornado, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave fema-nri · all sites with this

High tornado risk

This site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this

Renter-majority tract

This site: 50% census-acs · all sites with this

Shrinking county

This site: -1.3% census-acs · all sites with this

Walkable block group (EPA ≥ 12)

This site: …index 14.3 epa-walkability · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. extraction · all sites with this

New use

Education

This site: The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the c extraction · all sites with this

Mixed use

This site: The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Operatingextracted, unreviewed documented The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. en.wikipedia.org
Strategy	Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed documented The complex was built in 1980 as a small enclosed shopping mall called College Hills Mall, and was demolished and rebuilt in 2005 as an outdoor center. en.wikipedia.org
New uses	retailextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there now	The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA.extracted, unreviewed documented The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. en.wikipedia.org
Retrofit year	2005extracted, unreviewed reported
Redeveloper	Cullinan Propertiesextracted, unreviewed reported

Deals and debt

Date	Event	Price	Parties	Source
2017	Sold	—	Alto Real Estate funds and M & J Wilkow	Wikipedia
1986	Sold	$21.0M closed	MetLife	Wikipedia

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail station; 4 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zone	X · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m	14: DOOLEY AUTO CNT; HANSON'S CLEANERS; HANSONS CLEANERS INC; HENSON DISPOSAL INC; JEWEL OSCO 3775EPA FRS
Census tract 17113000504	4,289 people, 1,965 per sq mi; median household income $64,696; median gross rent $925; 50% renters; 3.2% vacant units; 4.4% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)	index 14.3 of 20; 23 intersections per sq mi; nearest transit stop 316 m; land-use mix 0.87; 34,782 jobs within 45 min by car, 49,723 by transit; 4% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)	5 of 6 daily needs: 5 grocers, 1 schools, 9 parks or playgrounds, 4 health, 0 civic, 35 food and drink; 4 cycleway segments, 140 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zone	noHUD
Housing permits, McLean County (IL), 2024	63 units in 5+ unit buildings, 14 in 2–4, 166 single-family; 2023: 0 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)	overall percentile 0.27; socioeconomic 0.37; housing and transport 0.23; 15% below 150% of poverty; 4% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Overture Maps	place Shoppes At College Hills (shopping_mall, confidence 0.94, from Overture, Overture-signals, meta); building footprint 9,309 m², 8.072996139526367 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	www.theshoppesatcollegehills.com (alive); archived 2006–2026 (Wayback) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	17,070 since 2015; 1,876 in the last 12 months (+29% vs the prior 12); peak 2026-03 with 252Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023	population -11% (4,834 → 4,289); median income +28% ($50,417 → $64,696); renters 46% → 50%; median home value +23% ($143,400 → $177,000)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)	relatively high overall (score 84.5); expected annual loss $2.9M; high: tornado, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave; community resilience very highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km	1 LIHTC properties, 198 units: Lancaster Heights Apts (198 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	8,259 jobs in 416 establishments; average annual pay $37,334; employment location quotient 0.96; employment +0.2% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	6,421 jobs; 2,062 in retail trade, 1,473 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 17113000504)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 45th income percentile as adults; 1.7% incarcerated at the 2010 count (278 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 2% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 7.9%; median family income $71,085; 145 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	McLean County Unit School District 5 (PK-12); 2 public schools within 1 mile: Colene Hoose Elem School; Sugar Creek Elem SchoolNCES EDGE
Elevation	815 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	256 county-logged events: 152 thunderstorm wind, 64 hail, 18 tornado, 15 flash flood; $13,996,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 61761, 2026-09	median list price $297,000 (-9.3% on the year); 43 active listings; median 36 days on market; 16% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	496 establishments (-15%); 8,862 jobs (-7%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $260,569 (+2% 1 yr, +36% 5 yr); typical rent $1,292/mo (+4% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2025	336 (2000 = 100); +8.8% 1 yr, +61% 5 yr, +70% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	42,911 vehicles a day (principal arterial, 6 lanes); 1,025 trucks; 14 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

The site opened as an enclosed mall in 1980. It was demolished and rebuilt in 2005 as an outdoor lifestyle center under Cullinan Properties. Ownership later shifted to Alto Real Estate funds and M & J Wilkow in 2017, and the center remains operating as a retail destination.

Why. The record does not specify the causes behind the 2005 demolition or any anchor losses, competition, or debt issues.

Where it stands. The mall is currently operating as a retail lifestyle center under ownership of Alto Real Estate funds and M & J Wilkow.

For a planner

Precedent: 2005 demolition and rebuild as an outdoor lifestyle center (redevelopment strategy).
Policy tools: not stated in the record.
Open questions: long-term retail viability, potential for further reuse, and implications of ownership changes.

For a developer

Site size and exact parcel boundaries: not stated in the record.
Control: owned by Alto Real Estate funds and M & J Wilkow since 2017.
Entitlement stage and any zoning approvals: not stated in the record.
Context-layer constraints (flood, transit, environment) and market signals: not stated in the record.

What we do not know yet

Site size, parcel boundaries, and exact land area are not provided.
Flood zone, transit access, and environmental constraints are not mentioned in the record.
Detailed tenant mix beyond the named anchors and lease terms are unknown.
Financial performance, debt levels, or financing details for the 2005 redevelopment are not stated.
The record is marked as “verified: draft” and several fields are model‑extracted, indicating potential unreviewed information.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Randhurst Mall, Mount Prospect, IL · Malls · opened 2011; same strategy: redevelop; also in IL
The Brokerage, Baltimore, MD · Malls · opened 2001; same strategy: redevelop
Winter Park Mall, Winter Park, FL · Malls · opened 1999; same strategy: redevelop
One Schaumburg Place, Schaumburg, IL · Malls · same strategy: redevelop; also in IL

Elsewhere on the web

Retail history: College Hills Mall on DeadMalls.com photos, field notes and visitor memories since 2000; matched by name and city; nothing copied here

Pages with photos

DMA: Development Management Associates | The Shoppes at College Hills ... dmassociates.com
The Shoppes at College Hills, Normal Illinois commons.wikimedia.org
The Shoppes at College Hills | Enjoy Illinois enjoyillinois.com
The Shoppes at College Hills - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
The Shoppes at College Hills N… flickr.com

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

retrofit already built

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Now called / also known as	The Shoppes at College Hills
Opened	2005Wikidata
Anchors	Von Maur, Target, Hobby Lobby, Crunch Fitness
County	McLean County
Census division	3 · East North Central
Notes	Wikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, original developer. Know it? Tell us.

Background

The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA. It is one of two major shopping centers in the Bloomington-Normal area. The complex was built in 1980 as a small enclosed shopping mall called College Hills Mall, and was demolished and rebuilt in 2005 as an outdoor center. Anchor stores include Hobby Lobby, Target, Crunch Fitness, and Von Maur.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1978 Plans announced
1980 First stage opened
1980 Montgomery Ward opened
1982 Target added as third anchor
1986 MetLife purchase
1989 Carson Pirie Scott sold to Von Maur
1997 Montgomery Ward closed
1999 Hobby Lobby opened
2005 Opened
2005 Demolished and rebuilt as outdoor center
2017 Purchased by Alto Real Estate funds and M & J Wilkow

Sources

Wikipedia: College Hills Mall · supports: after notes, status, strategy
13 quoted sentences
The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA.
The Shoppes at College Hills is a lifestyle center retail complex located in the city of Normal, Illinois, USA.
The complex was built in 1980 as a small enclosed shopping mall called College Hills Mall, and was demolished and rebuilt in 2005 as an outdoor center.
Plans were first announced for College Hills Mall in 1978.

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "College Hills Mall, Normal, IL." Record m-98be5c1cd5, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/normal-college-hills-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_normalcollegehillsmall,
  title = {College Hills Mall, Normal, IL},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/normal-college-hills-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-98be5c1cd5, release 2026-10-20, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-20}
}

How to cite, versioning