A Chicago investment firm has purchased Calhoun Square and an adjacent vacant lot in Uptown’s busy retail district for $34.5 million, half of the more than $69 million the shopping center sold for five years ago.
The Uptown landmark on the corner of Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue has had its struggles with several retailers recently departing the building including the Libertine restaurant in September and Famous Dave’s earlier this year.
Northpond Partners, which purchased the site from Minneapolis-based the Ackerberg Group last week, plans to make “significant changes” to Calhoun Square after some research and consultation with residents, said Sam Ankin, managing principal of Northpond Partners.
“We are super cognizant and understand that Calhoun Square has not been working,” Ankin said, in an interview Thursday morning. “We really believe that’s not because of the location or the neighborhood. That’s because of the mix of the building and the wrong tenants.”
Ankin said Northpond is open to a range of different uses for the 171,000-square-foot center, and the firm will take the next two to four months to explore its options.
