Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A lot of talk and then nothing. That’s how the last few years have been for the Town and Country shopping center – the first of its kind in Springfield, along MacArthur Blvd.

“A few years ago it was sold to a developer out of Miami, who had some pretty ambitious plans,” Springfield Business Journal publisher Michelle Ownbey told the WTAX Morning Newswatch. “He bought the property for a little over $5.5 million back in 2022 and had announced plans to do some demolition – not the whole thing, but selective demolition, if you will – and come back with 40-50 apartments and a three-story complex, creating some greenspace, transforming that former Burlington Coat Factory into climate-controlled storage units.”

“We haven’t heard or seen much since then,” said Ownbey, adding the property failed to sell at auction, though the auction may have been a tactic to attract new investors. “He said negotiations are ongoing, but the good news for Springfield is it looks like that is not necessarily a dead deal but perhaps just a bit delayed.”