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Megamall Officially Sold: Apartments, Grocery Store Part of $100M Plan

By Darryl Holliday | September 17, 2014 10:56am
 Renderings were released for the Logan Square site but community input could still be a game changer.
Megamall Renderings Released
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LOGAN SQUARE — The Megamall has sold at long last.

The longtime indoor flea market was sold to Terraco Real Estate Monday, according to Scott Gendell, founder and president of Terraco.

The official turnover marks the end of a 20-year run for the Megamall and the beginning of a process that will involve community input and a more than $100 million investment, Gendell said. Tentative proposals for the upcoming "Logan's Crossing" complex include a grocery store, a health center and rental apartments.

Darryl Holliday explains some of the proposals for the site, and why this is a big story in Logan Square:

The proposed apartments are based on resident feedback, according to Gendell, and could feature terraces and a pool deck.

“This should be a feel-good, positive experience for the whole community — with enhancements for the community that’ll make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives,” Gendell said Wednesday morning. “What were doing here is [helping] transform Logan Square and give people the amenities and services that this neighborhood deserves.”

Confidentiality agreements are in effect for at least one proposal at the site, but what’s certain is that the entire, “impossible to salvage” Megamall structure will be demolished, Gendell said. The mall will remain open through the zoning process, he added.

Around 110,000 square feet of the lot will return as the project's “centerpiece" and neighborhood "epicenter." In fact, the site is directly between the neighborhood’s two burgeoning districts, and is a vital location to “bridge the gap,” according to Ald. Rey Colon (35th).

In addition to a grocery store, Gendell said some outdoor space is also part of the plan and he hopes to include a rare apple orchard already in the works on the lot's northern end.

Gendell said preparations to demolish and reconstruct the site could begin as early as next year.

Terraco is committed to working with Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and residents to find the best tenants for the building, Gendell said. That will include community meetings once new renderings are released.

“From our perspective, one of the universal truths of development and transformation is that people want progress without change. And it’s virtually impossible to do that,” he said.

“But … as my mother used to say, ‘99 percent of the things you worry about never happen’. What I mean is that all the concerns are natural, we're human beings, but once the project comes to fruition — once it's open and vibrant and making a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives — those concerns melt away and people can enjoy the positive changes that have taken place.”

The final selling price of the Megamall was not immediately available.

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