Bloomingdale starts redevelopment of old Stratford Square Mall

The village of Bloomingdale has kicked off work for its new destination plaza The Grove at Bloomingdale, the latest project in a growing pipeline of mall redevelopments in the Greater Chicago area.

The Grove will be a $78 million mixed-use district filled with restaurants, entertainment options and housing. The development replaces the former Stratford Square Mall, which completed demolition last year.

At more than 60 acres, The Grove is a “pretty significant” development, Bloomingdale Mayor Franco Coladipietro said.

“What's most important for me is for people to interact with the property again,” Coladipietro said. “Stratford was so special to so many people. In its heyday, it was part of their everyday lives. I think that the hope and the mission is that The Grove can be that type of a place to recreate that feeling of community.”

Site plans, unveiled last month, include a man-made lake flanked by restaurants, an event lawn, retail, luxury residences and parking.

The village acquired and closed Stratford Square Mall in 2024 for $17.1 million, the Daily Herald reported. Before its closure, Stratford Square shared a similar reality with other malls in the Chicago suburbs: Retailers and anchor tenants pulling out and higher vacancies, as online retail changes how consumers shop.

Still, Bloomingdale turned to some local malls for inspiration. Niles is planning the redevelopment of its Golf Mill Shopping Center, demolishing the mall and creating a mixed-use town center in its place. In Aurora, portions of the sprawling Fox Valley Mall have been replaced with luxury apartments.

The village also looked beyond the region to states like Florida and South Carolina, Coladipietro said.

“A lot of what we tried to look for was the user experience, the walkability of it, how you interacted with the space,” Coladipietro said. “Some spaces just do it much better than others.”

He said the plans were also shaped by resident feedback.

The Grove's first tenant, Bloomingdale Yard, was one of the top asks from residents, when the village launched public engagement for the site in 2022. The 100,000-square-foot indoor sports and family recreation center will offer year-round programming for children and adults, according to the village.

Bloomingdale Yard will host sports leagues and training for sports like soccer and football. It will also offer a full-service child care center, after-school sports, birthday party packages and a children's playroom.

The Yard was created by Bill Gust and started in Westmont. It has since expanded with locations in Naperville and Milwaukee.

Bloomingdale had been talking to Gust “for years” about bringing the concept to Bloomingdale, Coladipietro said, and The Grove redevelopment helped pave the way.

The village estimates 260,000 annual attendees at Bloomingdale Yard. The facility is expected to break ground this spring and open in 2027.

“It's going to bring significant engagement into that area immediately just because of its use and the number of people that are going to be there,” Coladipietro said.

The village has spoken with other potential tenants for The Grove, and Coladipietro said he hopes to have more tenant announcements in the spring.

He sees the The Grove as the village's entertainment district, building off experiences offered at Bloomingdale Yard. Green space and other event spaces will ,host programming such as concerts and farmers markets, Coladipietro said.

“We want the best users, the best uses that we can find to complement what our vision is for The Grove and to compliment our community as well,” he said.

Utility infrastructure work began in early January. In addition to construction of Bloomingdale Yard, build-out of the roads, parking areas, lawn and water features will start late spring or early summer.

The Grove is being developed in partnership with Segovia Partners, Gravity Architecture & Design, Peak Construction Corp. and Christopher B. Burke Engineering.