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jstockinger@@dailyherald.com
A "potentially major reconfiguration" of Charlestowne Mall's physical layout is in the works as part of a plan to get the struggling St. Charles shopping center back on its feet, the Daily Herald has learned.
No formal redevelopment plan has been submitted to city hall, but city officials and the mall's latest management team confirmed they are in preliminary talks about repositioning the 850,000- square-foot structure.
The discussion appears to center on whether the mall would be more lucrative as an open-air facility reminiscent of so-called "lifestyle centers" such as Geneva Commons, whose success is widely blamed for Charlestowne Mall's decline.
"The direction we've been given is it would remain a predominantly retail property," St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte said of information he received from McKinley, the mall's Michigan-based manager.
"Whether it would remain in the same interior mall configuration is one of the redevelopment issues," he said. "They are looking at some potentially major reconfigurations of the existing structure."
Royal Caswell, McKinley's executive vice president of commercial operations, said any change would be subject to a lengthy city review process and in accordance with existing tenant leases. He would not elaborate on redevelopment plans, other than to confirm talks of repositioning the mall.
"There's no way I can reveal what we're looking at doing," he said. "We don't have any plans to put...