Van Vlissingen and Co. represents retail tenants, buyers, and landlords in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Gordon Lamphere and our retail team focus on tenant representation from 5,000 to 50,000 square feet and leasing, sales, and property management from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000, including single-tenant NNN assets. Van Vlissingen and Co. performs more than 100 commercial real estate transactions annually, and our team has completed over $3 billion in transaction volume, including retail transactions in Vernon Hills.
We have operated continuously in Chicagoland commercial real estate since 1879, and we developed and still manage the Corporate Woods here in Vernon Hills.
Meet Our Vernon Hills Retail Space Experts
As Vice President of Sales & Leasing, Gordon Lamphere, J.D. leads Van Vlissingen and Co.’s retail brokerage team. Ranked Vernon Hills’ #1 commercial real estate broker for 2026 by multiple industry publications, with transaction activity independently verified through Crexi, Gordon and his team close 100+ transactions annually. His advice is regularly featured in local and national press, and he hosts The Real Finds Podcast, Chicagoland’s leading commercial real estate podcast.
What Is Happening at Hawthorn Mall?
Vernon Hills retail is being reshaped by the largest capital investment in Hawthorn’s history, and any retail decision in this village needs to account for it.
Hawthorn opened on 10 September 1973 at 122 Hawthorn Center, at the intersection of Illinois Route 21 and Route 60. At roughly 1,295,915 square feet it is a super-regional mall carrying four anchors — Macy’s, JCPenney, AMC Theatres, and Dave & Buster’s — alongside more than 60 specialty retailers, with 79 stores recorded as of January 2026. It draws over six million visitors a year and is managed by Centennial Real Estate.
What has already been built
The former Sears site is now the Domaine, a complex of more than 300 apartments with ground-floor retail. Hawthorn Row opened in 2024 with tenants including Anthropologie, FP Movement, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and Yard House, laid out along a street rather than an interior concourse. AMC Hawthorn 12 has added an IMAX auditorium.
What is coming
Phase Two adds a further 290 apartments south of the existing complex plus 37,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space in mixed-use buildings, with completion expected in 2028. Twenty percent of the residential units will be held below market rate for households earning up to 60 percent of area median income. In 2027 the east and south sides of the mall are slated to be reworked with outward-facing storefronts, landscaped plazas, and a new entrance. A $5 million interior refresh is also underway. The full redevelopment programme contemplates 561 multifamily residences and 109,000 square feet of open-air retail.
The Village designated a Hawthorn Mall Redevelopment Project Area under the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act in 2020.
What it means for a retail decision
Three things. First, the trade area’s tenant mix is actively changing, so co-tenancy assumptions made two years ago may not hold. Second, several hundred new residential units inside the trade area alter the daytime and evening customer base in ways a historical traffic count will not capture. Third, construction phasing through 2028 affects access, visibility, and short-term sales for nearby retail — which belongs in a lease negotiation as a rent abatement or co-tenancy discussion, not as a surprise.
Figures from Centennial Real Estate, Village of Vernon Hills documents, Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, and NBC Chicago reporting. Confirm current phasing with the Village before executing.
Where Is Retail Space in Vernon Hills?
- The Hawthorn trade area — the mall itself, Hawthorn Row, the Domaine’s ground-floor retail, and the outparcels and inline centers surrounding it. The strongest traffic in Lake County, and the most competitive.
- Rivertree Court and the Marketplace — open-air community retail serving the Milwaukee Avenue corridor.
- Milwaukee Avenue (Illinois Route 21) — freestanding buildings, automotive and service uses, outparcels, and hospitality.
- Route 60 and Townline Road — neighborhood and convenience retail serving residential Vernon Hills and the corporate population to the west.
These trade on very different terms. Hawthorn-adjacent space commands the highest rents and the tightest availability, and its underwriting is now tied to redevelopment phasing. Route 60 neighborhood product is more conventional and more available. An assignment that treats “Vernon Hills retail” as one market will be mispriced.
Retail Tenant Representation in Vernon Hills — 5,000 to 50,000 SF
Our retail tenant representation practice covers the 5,000 to 50,000 square foot range: junior anchor space, inline shops in neighborhood and community centers, freestanding buildings, and outparcels.
For retailers entering or expanding in Vernon Hills, we run the full site selection process: trade area and demographic analysis, co-tenancy review, traffic and access assessment, and a survey of both listed and off-market availability across the Hawthorn trade area, Rivertree, and the Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60 corridors. Where a site is affected by Hawthorn redevelopment phasing, we assess construction impact on access and visibility before the letter of intent, because a rent abatement negotiated up front is worth more than a dispute later.
We negotiate the LOI and the lease — tenant improvement allowances, exclusive use provisions, co-tenancy protections, and renewal and expansion options. We work both sides of the table in Vernon Hills, and we tell you which side we are on before an assignment begins.
Retail Leasing, Sales & Property Management in Vernon Hills — $1M to $50M
For owners and investors we handle retail leasing, investment sales, and property management from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000: single-tenant net lease assets, multi-tenant strip and neighborhood centers, outparcels, and mixed-use property with ground-floor retail.
Landlord Representation
We build and execute the leasing plan: merchandising strategy, rent positioning against comparables from deals we closed ourselves, marketing to the regional and national tenant base, prospect qualification, and negotiation through lease execution. In the Hawthorn trade area that includes positioning against the 37,000 square feet of new retail coming in Phase Two, rather than pretending it is not coming. We report activity honestly, including when the market is telling you something you did not want to hear.
NNN Investment Sales
Single-tenant triple net assets trade on tenant credit, remaining lease term, and rent escalations more than on real estate fundamentals, and pricing them correctly requires understanding all three. We represent buyers and sellers of NNN retail in Vernon Hills and across Lake County, including 1031 exchange buyers working against identification and closing deadlines. We underwrite against comparables from transactions we negotiated, not aggregated listing data.
Multi-Tenant Retail
For strip and neighborhood centers, value turns on rent roll durability, rollover exposure, anchor performance, and the real cost of deferred maintenance. In Vernon Hills there is a fourth input: exposure to the Hawthorn redevelopment. A center two blocks from Hawthorn Row is a different asset in 2028 than it was in 2022, and the direction depends on tenant mix. We model that rather than assuming it away.
Who Manages Retail Property in Vernon Hills?
Van Vlissingen and Co. provides comprehensive property management for retail assets in Vernon Hills:
- Lease administration, rent collection, and enforcement of lease terms
- CAM reconciliation and pass-through billing, prepared to withstand tenant audit
- Preventive and corrective maintenance, snow removal, and parking lot management
- Vendor selection, contract negotiation, and performance oversight
- Monthly financial reporting, annual budgeting, and capital planning
- Tenant relations, renewal coordination, and vacancy turnover
We are not a third-party manager who learned Vernon Hills from a market report. We developed and still manage the 340-acre Corporate Woods here — more than 60 buildings and over 3 million square feet, roughly 25 percent office and 75 percent light industrial. Increasingly the largest part of our management portfolio is third-party assignments for owners who came to us on the strength of that record.
Why Work With Our Vernon Hills Retail Brokers?
- More than 100 commercial real estate transactions annually, and over $3 billion in team transaction volume
- A defined focus: 5,000 to 50,000 SF tenant representation and $1M to $50M leasing, sales, and management
- We developed and still manage the Corporate Woods in Vernon Hills
- Working knowledge of Hawthorn redevelopment phasing and its effect on surrounding retail
- Direct owner relationships that surface off-market availability
- Comparables from deals we negotiated ourselves
- In-house property management, so ownership advice reflects operating reality
- A fourth-generation firm, continuously in Chicagoland commercial real estate since 1879
Nearby Markets We Serve
Vernon Hills sits in central Lake County between Libertyville to the north, Buffalo Grove to the south, Mundelein to the west, and Lincolnshire to the southeast. Retail requirements frequently span those lines. We also broker retail space in
In Vernon Hills itself we also handle industrial space and general commercial brokerage.
Vernon Hills Retail Real Estate FAQs
How big is Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills?
Roughly 1,295,915 square feet. Hawthorn opened on 10 September 1973 at 122 Hawthorn Center, at Illinois Route 21 and Route 60, and is classified as a super-regional mall. It carries four anchors — Macy’s, JCPenney, AMC Theatres, and Dave & Buster’s — alongside more than 60 specialty retailers, with 79 stores recorded as of January 2026. It draws over six million visitors a year and is managed by Centennial Real Estate.
What is the Hawthorn Mall redevelopment?
A multi-phase conversion of the mall into a mixed-use district. The former Sears site is now the Domaine, more than 300 apartments with ground-floor retail, and Hawthorn Row opened in 2024 with tenants including Anthropologie, FP Movement, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and Yard House. Phase Two adds 290 more apartments and 37,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, with completion expected in 2028. The full programme contemplates 561 residences and 109,000 square feet of open-air retail. The Village designated a Hawthorn Mall Redevelopment Project Area under the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act in 2020.
Does the Hawthorn redevelopment affect nearby retail property?
Yes, in three ways. Tenant mix in the trade area is actively changing, so co-tenancy assumptions made two years ago may not hold. Several hundred new residential units alter the customer base in ways historical traffic counts will not capture. And construction phasing through 2028 affects access and visibility for nearby retail, which belongs in a lease negotiation as a rent abatement or co-tenancy discussion rather than as a surprise.
What size retail leases does Van Vlissingen and Co. handle in Vernon Hills?
Our retail tenant representation practice covers 5,000 to 50,000 square feet in Vernon Hills and across Lake County. On the leasing, sales, and property management side we handle retail assets from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000, including single-tenant NNN.
Do you handle retail investment sales in Vernon Hills?
Yes. We broker retail investment sales from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000 in Vernon Hills, including single-tenant NNN assets, multi-tenant strip and neighborhood centers, outparcels, and mixed-use property with ground-floor retail. We work with 1031 exchange buyers on deadline.
Who is the best commercial real estate broker in Vernon Hills?
Choose a brokerage with closed transactions in Vernon Hills specifically, not just regional coverage. Van Vlissingen and Co. performs more than 100 commercial real estate transactions annually, and our team has completed over $3 billion in transaction volume, including retail transactions in Vernon Hills. We developed and still manage the 340-acre Corporate Woods here, and the firm has operated in Chicagoland commercial real estate since 1879. Gordon Lamphere leads the retail practice.
Do you manage retail property in Vernon Hills?
Yes. We provide comprehensive property management for Vernon Hills retail assets, covering lease administration, CAM reconciliation, maintenance and parking lot management, vendor oversight, and monthly financial reporting.