Golf Mill Shopping Center
 | |
 Golf Mill Center entrance in 2010 | |
| Location | Niles, Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°3′0″N 87°50′14″W / 42.05000°N 87.83722°W |
| Address | 239 Golf Mill Center |
| Opening date | October 13, 1960 |
| Management | Sterling Retail Services |
| Stores and services | 120 (at least 40 open) [1] |
| Anchor tenants | 7 (6 open, 1 vacant) |
| Floor area | 1,057,000 sq ft (98,200 m2) |
| Floors | 1 (2 in Burlington (store only takes up 1), JCPenney, and former Sears) |
| Parking | 5,500 |
| Public transit | Pace |
| Website | golfmill |
Golf Mill Shopping Center, or simply Golf Mill is a shopping center located at 239 Golf Mill Center in Niles, Illinois. The shopping mall has a gross leasable area of 1.1 million square feet (100,000 m2). It is managed by Sterling Retail Services. It borders the intersections of Golf Road (Illinois Route 58), Milwaukee Avenue (Illinois Route 21) and Greenwood Avenue. The shopping mall has over 100 specialty shops, three anchor stores (JCPenney, Target, and Ross Dress for Less), an AMC Theatres, a grocery store (Gordon Food Service), a LA Fitness (formerly XSport Fitness), and a 9-story office tower and other outparcels. Former anchors included Sears and Roebuck (closed December 2018), Kohl's (closed Halloween 2020), and Value City Furniture
History
Golf Mill opened to the public in October 1960[2] as an open-air mall and featured an office tower (designed by Chicago architect Edo Belli to look like the top of a golf ball) and Sears. It featured a full "mill" theme, complete with ponds, bridges, and a working waterwheel.[3] Soon after opening, a Lord's department store was built,[4] but closed after a few years and was replaced by JCPenney. Around that time, the Mill Run Playhouse was built at the north end of the complex that wasn't connected to the corridors.
General Growth Properties took over the management of the Golf Mill Shopping Center in 1994.
After General Growth Properties went bankrupt, Milwaukee Golf Management Corporation took over the management of the Golf Mill Shopping Center in 2009. Sterling Organization purchased Golf Mill Shopping Center in August 2014 via a private equity fund, and its subsidiary, Sterling Retail Services is currently managing the property on behalf of the fund.
Anchors
Source:[5]
Current
- The Golf Mill Office Tower -- Opened in 1960 (Technical Anchor)
- JCPenney -- Opened in 1965
- Target -- Opened in 1998
- Value City Furniture -- Opened in 2005 (Unofficial Anchor)
- AMC Theaters -- Opened in 2010
- Gordon Food Service -- Opened in 2011 (Unofficial Outparcel Anchor)
- Ross Dress For Less -- Opened in 2012 (Unofficial Anchor)
- Panera Bread -- Opened in 2017 (Unofficial Anchor)
- Ulta Beauty -- Opened in 2017 (Unofficial Anchor)
- Chase Bank -- Opened in 2020 (Unofficial Outparcel Anchor)
- Chick-fil-A -- Opened in 2021 (Unofficial Outparcel Anchor)
- Burlington -- Opened in 2021
Former
- Sears -- Opened in 1960, Closed in 2018
- Lord's -- Opened in 1960, Closed in 1964, Converted Into JCPenney in 1965
- Woolworth -- Opened in 1960, Closed in 1984, Converted into a food court in 1986 (Unofficial Anchor)
- Golf Mill Theaters -- Opened in 1961, Closed in 2000, Converted into Kerasotes Showplace 12 in 2006
- MainStreet -- Opened in 1986, Closed in 1989, Converted into Kohl's in 1989
- Kohl's -- Opened in 1989, Closed in 2020, Converted into Burlington in 2021
- Kerasotes Showplace 12 -- Opened in 2006, Closed in 2010, Converted into AMC Theaters in 2010
Renovations
In 1986, the mall had major renovations, with the north end being completely rebuilt as an enclosed portion anchored by MainStreet and enclosing the mall between the Sears and JCPenney, also adding a food court in the process.
In 2006, GGP remodeled the mall complete with new flooring and a new food court entrance, however the north wing and a corridor in the south wing were left untouched. The remodel also added a 12-screen Kerasotes movie theater.
When Ulta first opened in 2017, the mall has planned to relocate the former south food court next to AMC, but it was scrapped.
In January 2022, the mall announced that it will be redeveloping most of the mall, planning to demolish the former Sears, AMC, Iconic Circular Tower, and various outlots as part of a "live work play" styled development. The new development would bring back the water wheel, add new outdoor retail, apartment complexes, new greenspace. JCPenney, Ulta Beauty, Chick-fil-A, Panera, Chase, X-Sport Fitness, Burlington, Target, and other stores will remain.[6]
Bus routes
- 100 Pulse Milwaukee Line [7]
- 208 Golf Road [8]
- 240 Dee Road [9]
- 241 Greenwood/Talcott [10]
- 270 Milwaukee Avenue [11]
- 272 Milwaukee Avenue North [12]
- 410 East Niles Local [13]
- 411 West Niles Local [14]
- 412 North Niles Circulator [15]
References
- ^ "Store Directory – Golf Mill Shopping Center". Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ "Golf-Mill Shopping Center Opened", Chicago Daily Tribune, October 13, 1960
- ^ "Malls of America - Vintage photos of lost Shopping Malls of the '50s, '60s & '70s".
- ^ "Lord's". Jazz Age Chicago. Archived from the original on April 13, 2011.
- ^ "MALL HALL OF FAME". Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ "'Live, work, play' redevelopment targeted for Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles; many existing stores would remain". Nadig Newspapers - Northwest Side Local Newspapers. January 31, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
- ^ "Pulse - Milwaukee Line".
- ^ "Pace Bus - Route 208".
- ^ "Pace Bus - Route 240".
- ^ "Pace Bus - Route 241".
- ^ "Pace Bus - Route 270".
- ^ "Pace Bus - Route 272".
- ^ "410 - East Niles Local | Pace Suburban Bus".
- ^ "411 - West Niles Local | Pace Suburban Bus".
- ^ "412 - North Niles Circulator | Pace Suburban Bus".