Effingham, IL-(Effingham Radio)- The Square Effingham announced on their Facebook page that the City of Effingham now owns the Village Square Mall after legal battles with the previous owner.
From the Square Effingham Facebook page:
We dreamed that this development would spark a rejuvenation on the south side of Effingham and bring jobs, new businesses, residents, and tourism while revitalizing a distressed community asset. You may remember that we prevailed in purchasing the Village Square Mall in a public auction in November of 2024. Unfortunately, the owner successfully appealed the decision to a higher court only weeks later.
Still very optimistic, we spent time and money to work with potential tenants and secure indications of interest for almost 50% of the mall. We were motivated and excited, but our excitement turned to surprise and then to dismay as the 5th District Court of Appeals in Illinois would go on to take almost 17 months to rule on this appeal. An appeal that everyone knew lacked merit.
And to no one’s surprise, they recently ruled 100% in favor of the City of Effingham.
That is the good news.
The bad news is that during the lengthy time to rule the mall has deteriorated, the costs to renovate have increased dramatically and our momentum with potential tenants has waned. The result is that we will no longer be moving forward with our plans and instead have transferred our ownership to the City of Effingham.
Please note:
We are incredibly grateful for the large amount of community support for our vision. It would have been special and impactful. As excited as we were for the Village Square Mall renovation, we were just as passionate about the rejuvenation of the south side of Effingham, which has been neglected for a long period of time.
Although the appeals process did not directly include Square Southtown, we made a supportive decision at a high cost to maintain our ownership position during the length of the appeal to ensure the mall ownership would not be returned into the hands of the previous owner.
If we had chosen to walk away at any point, ownership would have reverted to the previous owner, thus losing the small window of opportunity for it to be locally owned, potentially forever. There are a few investment groups that own hundreds of “zombie” malls around the country that are drains on their local economies and blights on the towns they are located in. Thankfully, ours doesn’t have to be one of them.
This is a huge win for Effingham. Our support and community pride has never wavered, and we will continue to support the City of Effingham as they develop the mall area.
Make no mistake. We are disappointed and frustrated by this outcome. And maybe we were a touch naïve in this process. Who knew the legal system could be used as a tool of delay and avoidance?
Our vision was real, your support was substantial, and the energy was shared.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
We are, as always, rooting for Effingham.
Team Square
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