Ready for residents
New apartment complex on land where Fox Valley Mall Sears store once stood
Completion of the 319-unit Lumen of Fox Valley, a residential complex built on the east side of the Fox Valley Mall in the parking lot of the now-demolished Sears store, was celebrated this week with a ribbon-cutting.
Officials for the city of Aurora, mall owners Centennial Real Estate and complex developers Atlantic Residential gathered for the event outside the new apartments at Route 59 and East New York Street, where four residents have already moved in and six more will be arriving next week.
“Welcome to the future Fox Valley,” said Scott Samson, senior general manager for Fox Valley Mall. “We’re very proud to celebrate this beautiful development. But our Fox Valley redevelopment does not end here.”
He was referencing things like Fox Valley Yard, directly across the street from the new apartment complex. When completed, it will be a large green open space with a park, walking area and entertainment venue built on a site where people once bought clothes, lawnmowers and appliances.
And the second phase of the redevelopment already is underway to the northwest of Lumen — a 200-unit senior living center directly next door and another apartment complex with 323 units to the west of that. While the mall has been around since 1975, Samson said he even has stopped calling the burgeoning “live, work, play” development by that name.
“Notice how I didn’t say mall,” Samson said. “It’s a campus.”
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin pointed out that the bright, sunny day Wednesday was “shining a light on Fox Valley.” He presented plaques to both Centennial Real Estate and Atlantic Residential, and raised a champagne glass in a toast.
“It was a long, hard road, but look at what we have behind us,” he said.