Historic Illinois Mall Seeks New Life as Main St.

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — Like many people approaching their 50th birthday, the Randhurst Mall is having a little work done.

Randhurst, which opened in this inner-ring Chicago suburb in 1962, was the first enclosed mall in the Chicago area and, for a brief period, the largest enclosed mall in the world. The original architect was Victor Gruen, a Viennese immigrant with a socialist bent who, improbably, became the father of the modern enclosed mall.

Now, after a long period of decline, Randhurst is undergoing a $190 million overhaul that involves demolishing most of the original center and replacing it with an open-air street of shops and additional anchor tenants. The developer is Casto Lifestyle Properties of Sarasota, Fla.

“Our approach is to look for good real estate that has the wrong real estate product and that’s often the case with 40-year-old malls,” said Brett Hutchens, the president and chief executive of Casto Lifestyle Properties....