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BLOOMINGDALE, IL-Stratford Square Mall is under-performing with "mediocre" sales of $275 per sf, said Larry Feldman, the chairman and chief executive officer of Feldman Mall Properties, Inc., but he adds it is not in dire straits. Feldman's company has acquired the mall for $93.1 million from an unidentified pension fund, and plans $20 million in improvements followed by a marketing blitz to raise Stratford Square's visibility.

"This is not a deeply distressed mall," Feldman said during a conference call Wednesday. "Stratford has many things going for it."

Among the positives is a location at Army Trail Road and Gary Avenue, with a 10-mile trade area that has a population of 860,000 and average household income of $87,000, Feldman noted. In addition to being located in one of the fastest-growing and most affluent counties, the mall underwent $11 million in renovations in 1998, he added, that included a "high-end" food court and new flooring.

Nonetheless, Feldman Mall Properties plans a three-year improvement program aimed at bringing in a new multi-screen theater operation. In addition, 95,000 sf of in-line space that is occupied by temporary tenants will be converted to space for permanent tenants, Feldman added. Those temporary tenants pay an average of $8 per sf, company officials said. That compares to $26 per sf asked for a 32,000-sf space block that previous ownership was marketing.

The 1.3-million-sf mall is anchored by Kohl's, Sears, Carson Pirie Scott, Marshall Fields, JC Penney and Burlington Coat Factory. However, the six anchor tenants own their real estate, leaving about 500,000 sf that was acquired by Feldman Mall Properties.

The company also is closing on an Albany, NY acquisition. Feldman's grandfather, HJ Feldman, emigrated to Chicago in 1902 and formed a construction company, whose work included three main terminal buildings at O'Hare International Airport.

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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: New Owner Says Stratford 'Not Deeply Distressed'

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