The new owners of Uptown's Calhoun Square hope to add new vibrancy to the neighborhood by redesigning the indoor mall and bringing up to 500 tech jobs to a nearby office development.
Local developer Stu Ackerberg, who bought Calhoun Square this spring from out-of-state owners Blackrock Inc., told a neighborhood group that they will begin work in the next 30 to 45 days to redesign common areas and other aspects of the indoor mall.
They have already begun moving furniture around and making exterior aesthetic improvements. "There will be tile coming out, and sheetrock coming out, to just … try and create this urban, gritty feel," Ackerberg said.
Ackerberg told the Calhoun Area Residents Action Group that he has a signed letter of intent with Code42, a major local tech firm, to move between 400 to 500 jobs into phase two of Mozaic, near Lagoon Avenue. Code42 is currently based in Nordeast.
"For us, what continues to be the missing link to making Uptown as healthy and vibrant as it could be is to have more daytime population," said Ackerberg, noting that they are still negotiating a lease.
"High-paying jobs, younger, creative, vibrant people that again should just help the community and the live, work and the play component," Ackerberg said.
Ackerberg said he will eventually start trying to develop an empty block adjacent to Calhoun Square, currently bordered by a fence with advertisements. He said it would likely become office, "and maybe even a hotel if we can figure that out."
As for Calhoun Square itself, Ackerberg said his options for reconfiguring the space are limited because the facility is 88 percent rented out. About half of that is the former Figlio's restaurant space on Lake Street.
