By TIM LANDIS (tim.landis@sj-r.com), THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted May 12, 2011
A face-to-face meeting between city officials and the owners of the former Kmart on MacArthur Boulevard is the latest plan to revive the long-unused property. An executive with TLM Realty in New York said Thursday the company hopes to have the meeting next month. “We either want to sell it or redevelop it. Our preference is to redevelop it,” said TLM vice president Laura Hackel. Hackel said “everything” would be on the table, including the possibility of city economic incentives to redevelop the building. “We’ve had that property too long,” she said. Hackel added that company representatives waited until after the April municipal elections to seek a meeting.
Other than special events, the property has been vacant since the Kmart store closed in April 2003. The condition of the building has been a focus of the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association since the group was formed nearly five years ago. There also have been periodic complaints about graffiti, loitering and debris dumped in the parking lot or near the building.
The owners recently approved removal of the old Kmart sign, and Hackel said the company has had discussions with association members on ways the property could fit into MacArthur Boulevard redevelopment plans. “We don’t like it being vacant any more than you do there,” Hackel said. “We want to revive MacArthur Boulevard as a retail center again.”
Two Springfield City Council members said Thursday they are encouraged about the possibility of progress.
Jobe and Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, also elected in April, updated an association membership meeting on Thursday. McMenamin’s ward includes much of the MacArthur Boulevard corridor. “They said they want to come in June, and I expect that is going to happen,” McMenamin said at the meeting.
Fair market value
Other than special events, the former Kmart building at 2115 S. MacArthur Blvd. in Springfield has been empty since the retailer closed in 2003. Developers and local commercial real-estate specialists say the redevelopment cost or sale price would be determined by the eventual fate of the property.
However, here is the property’s fair market value since 2003, as estimated in Sangamon County property-tax records:
- 2010: $2,399,991
- 2009: $3,675,585
- 2008: $3,601,041
- 2007: $3,527,322
- 2006: $3,633,351
- 2005: $3,500,001
- 2004: $4,156,590
- 2003: $4,036,698
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 