Hawthorn Apartments

Focus and it's partners Atlantic Residential and Centennial are thrilled to announce the second phase of redevelopment at Hawthorn Mall. This next phase of development will bring an additional 250 luxury apartments and 33,000 SF of ground floor, exterior retail to the mall in Vernon Hills, an affluent suburb located along the North Shore of Chicago.

The expanded plan creates a larger outdoor public plaza to enhance the customer experience and increase pedestrian access to the mall; a new grand entrance for the shopping center; and significantly more retail, restaurant and entertainment space surrounding the exterior of the growing open-air “Hawthorn Row” integrated streetscape to further optimize the mall’s platform. The newly designed plaza creates a dynamic outdoor live, work, play environment with activities for all members of the community. The expanded vision for Hawthorn Mall also includes The Domaine, a 311-unit luxury apartment development housed in two four-story buildings on the east side of the mall, for a total of 561 luxury apartments in all.

Changes to the plan for “Hawthorn Row,” a lively Main Street-style retail, dining and public gathering space situated between the luxury apartment buildings, will add 27,000 square feet of retail and dining space as well as three new building pad sites slated for future restaurant additions. To accommodate the changes and to create a more modern look and feel, the center has demolished the vacant Carson’s store and will relocate Dave & Buster’s to a nearby spot on the property that is slightly further north from its present location.

Plans also call for removing approximately one-third of the mall’s interior space along the Sears end of the center, including the food court; when completed, the interior portion of the mall will begin at the newly built Center Park and continue through the Macy’s and JCPenney wings, while the revitalized exterior will include more greenspace and brand-new exterior-accessible shopping, dining and entertainment. The center’s AMC Theatre, located just north of where the changes will occur, will remain unaffected.

Pre-leasing for The Domaine has begun and the apartments will open in phases beginning in early 2023. Work on Phase 2 of the center’s redevelopment, which includes the expanded Hawthorn Row retail and additional 250 apartments, is expected to begin in 2024 and to be completed by 2026.

Control the Risk of Innovation

Throughout the transformation, Hawthorn Mall has and will remain open. As the General Contractor and Developer for this dynamic redevelopment, our integrated team of development and construction professionals understand the importance of ensuring that the overall customer experience at the mall remains positive throughout the redevelopment. The customers and tenants of the mall are critical to it's success and it is our job to be stewards of that experience, not a detractor.

Therefore, visitors will continue to have full access to the retail, restaurants and entertainment located throughout the property. Through our integrated approach to development and construction, Focus is able to deliver on it's promise to control the risks that come with repositioning of active mall.