Malls · Illinois

St Charles Mall

From the authors' mapRedevelopedRetrofit builtSt Charles, IL

Opened 1980. Closed 1995. Redeveloped in 2016.

Status nowRetrofit builtderived from authors' map (retrofit year present) reported

What it becamehousingextracted, unreviewed reported

Retrofit year2016authors' map reported

Walkability9.7 of 20 · 15-minute 6 of 6EPA, OpenStreetMap

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

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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.

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Site profile12 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors

Kmart

This site: Kmart wikipedia · all sites with this

Finance and pipeline

On Facebook

This site: …https://www.facebook.com/109484020444954 overture · all sites with this

Website alive

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

Place

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

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

30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent road

This site: 36,146 on Randall Rd fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

County typical rent $2,000+

This site: $2,108/mo zillow · all sites with this

Grocery within 800 m

This site: 5 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this

High tornado risk

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

High-income tract ($100k+)

This site: $104,600 census-acs · all sites with this

Shrinking county

This site: -2.8% census-acs · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: Redevelopment: residential, new streets record · all sites with this

New use

Housing

This site: Redevelopment: residential, new streets Over 8 residential buildings with 670 units we extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

From the authors' map

IL, St Charles: St Charles Mall/Prairie Center, 2016
• Redevelopment: residential, new streets

Now

Status	Retrofit builtderived from authors' map (retrofit year present) reported
Strategy	Redevelopedauthors' map reported
New uses	housingextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there now	Redevelopment: residential, new streetsauthors' map reported
Retrofit year	2016authors' map reported
Redeveloper	City of St. Charlesextracted, unreviewed reported

Planning

Entitlement year	2017extracted, unreviewed reported
Planning notes	Over 8 residential buildings with 670 units were built in the span of a couple years.extracted, unreviewed reported

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail station; 3 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zone	no NFHL polygon at point (unmapped or outside coverage)FEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m	14: BP AMOCO; CVS PHARMACY 10660; GENEVA OFFICE CENTER; JEWEL OSCO 3331; JIFFY LUBE SERVICE CENTER #1101EPA FRS
Census tract 17089852201	5,092 people, 4,740 per sq mi; median household income $104,600; median gross rent $1,953; 28% renters; 0.0% vacant units; 2.1% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)	index 9.7 of 20; 52 intersections per sq mi; no transit stop within the EPA search radius; land-use mix 0.75; 81,848 jobs within 45 min by car; 5% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)	6 of 6 daily needs: 5 grocers, 1 schools, 5 parks or playgrounds, 1 health, 1 civic, 19 food and drink; 9 cycleway segments, 226 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zone	noHUD
Housing permits, Kane County (IL), 2024	357 units in 5+ unit buildings, 34 in 2–4, 1,741 single-family; 2023: 563 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)	overall percentile 0.27; socioeconomic 0.28; housing and transport 0.22; 16% below 150% of poverty; 2% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby	1 within 10 km, 6 within 25 km: Charlestowne Mall (6.0 km)computed
Overture Maps	place The Reserve at Prairie Centre (historic_site, confidence 0.99, from Overture, Overture-signals, meta); building footprint 1,888 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	www.shodeen.com (alive); archived 1996–2026 (Wayback) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	7,431 since 2015; 2,133 in the last 12 months (-15% vs the prior 12); peak 2024-02 with 470Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023	population +0% (5,085 → 5,092); median income +31% ($79,861 → $104,600); renters 27% → 28%; median home value +25% ($271,200 → $338,800)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)	relatively low overall (score 44.0); expected annual loss $1.7M; high: tornado, cold wave; community resilience relatively moderateFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km	noneHUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	20,049 jobs in 1,220 establishments; average annual pay $39,808; employment location quotient 0.95; employment -1.6% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	786 jobs; 185 in retail trade, 108 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 17089852201)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 49th income percentile as adults; 0.5% incarcerated at the 2010 count (190 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; poverty rate 4.5%; median family income $115,267; 63 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 (PK-12); 9 public schools within 1 mile: Northeast Academy North; Northeast Academy East; Compass Academy; Williamsburg Elem SchoolNCES EDGE
Elevation	791 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	392 county-logged events: 262 thunderstorm wind, 74 hail, 23 tornado, 14 flood; $1,258,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 60174, 2026-09	median list price $564,450 (+16.8% on the year); 61 active listings; median 31 days on market; 10% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	1,413 establishments (-4%); 24,486 jobs (+7%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $383,834 (+5% 1 yr, +35% 5 yr); typical rent $2,108/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2025	535 (2000 = 100); +4.0% 1 yr, +55% 5 yr, +79% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	36,146 vehicles a day on Randall Rd (principal arterial, 4 lanes); 1,875 trucks; 23 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Similar sites

Crystal Point Mall, Crystal Lake, IL · Malls · opened 1976; closed 1998; same strategy: redevelop
Spring Hill Mall, West Dundee, IL · Malls · opened 1980; same strategy: redevelop; also in IL
Randhurst Mall, Mount Prospect, IL · Malls · same strategy: redevelop; also in IL; 39 km away
Driver's Village, Cicero, NY · Malls · opened 1976; closed 1996; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

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

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

Multifamily screen

retrofit already built
county shrank -2.8% 2018–23
median rent $1,404
housing in the record

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	Prairie Center
Opened	1980extracted, unreviewed
Closed	1995extracted, unreviewed documented The mall closed in 1995. en.wikipedia.org
Anchors	Kmart, Joseph Spiess Company
County	Kane County
Census division	3 · East North Central

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

Background

St. Charles Mall was a shopping mall in St. Charles, Illinois. The mall opened in 1980 with over 48 stores. The mall closed in 1995. The anchors stores were Kmart and Joseph Spiess Company.

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

Timeline

1979 Joseph Spiess Company opened as first anchor before mall opened
1980 Mall opened with over 48 stores
1986 Essaness Theatre sold to Cineplex Odeon
1995 Mall closed
2002 City decided to demolish mall buildings for redevelopment
2016 Retrofit: redevelop
2017 City approved plans for Prairie Centre residential development
2018 Construction started on the site

Sources

Wikipedia: St. Charles Mall · supports: year closed, year opened
9 quoted sentences
The mall opened in 1980 with over 48 stores (including 2 anchor stores).
The mall closed in 1995.
Joseph Spiess Company was the first anchor to open before the mall opened in 1979.
The mall opened in 1980 with over 48 stores (including 2 anchor stores).
Retrofitting Suburbia Interactive Mall Map (ArcGIS web map ce33ab26…) · 2021-01-20

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "St Charles Mall, St Charles, IL." Record m-585dc57c2e, from the authors' map. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/st-charles-st-charles-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_stcharlesstcharlesmall,
  title = {St Charles Mall, St Charles, IL},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/st-charles-st-charles-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-585dc57c2e, release 2026.10.20, tier: curated. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-20}
}

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