Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
In his 13 years as mayor of Bloomingdale, Franco Coladipietro has worked on several large-scale projects, but none as consequential as the redevelopment of the now-demolished Stratford Square Mall.
The site, renamed “The Grove,” will be home to Bloomingdale Yard, a 100,000-square-foot sports training facility slated to open next year. There are also plans for restaurants, an event lawn, a man-made lake, retail space and luxury residences.
The old mall, once the largest revenue generator for the village, had become a symbol of failure, Coladipietro says.
“Failure doesn’t sit well with me,” he says. “The mall’s ownership group had no intention of investing money in the project and said that to us. I knew that we had to take matters into our own hands and our village board agreed.”
The village paid $17.1 million to acquire the property, which lies within a tax-increment financing district, and demolished it last year. The village’s board of trustees worked with residents to formulate a game plan, which is now being executed.
Getting to this point required “thousands and thousands” of work hours from village staff, particularly Village Administrator Peter Scalera and Director of Community and Economic Development Sean Gascoigne, Coladipietro says.
A lawyer by profession, Coladipietro is a partner for the real estate tax appeal law firm Amari & Locallo, which has offices in Chicago and suburban Bloomingdale.
He grew up in suburban Joliet and had known since he was a child that he wanted to become a lawyer, he says. “My father’s business partner, Robert Baron, was a lawyer in Joliet. I had a tremendous amount of respect for him, his professionalism and intellect. He inspired me to want to be a part of the profession.”
After graduating from Joliet West High School, Coladipietro earned a degree in finance from Northern Illinois University and a law degree from The John Marshall Law School.
During law school, he developed an interest in public service, and his work at the law firm and involvement with the Illinois State Bar Association further enhanced that, he says.
He decided to run for office, serving as state representative for Illinois’ 45th District from 2007 to 2013. He describes his service as “a tremendous learning and growth experience” that taught him to expand his thinking and analyze complex public policy issues and their potential ramifications.
He chose not to run for re-election in 2012 because he wanted to be home with his family, he says. He and his wife, Amy, a real estate agent, have been married for 25 years and have two children, Alyssa Marie and Joseph Domenic. Their daughter graduated from Vanderbilt University and is a teacher in New York City, while their son is a junior at Villanova University.
“I wanted to be present in their lives and I could not do that as a state representative,” he explains. “Additionally, practicing law and being a legislator is a stressful game. I am blessed to have amazing law partners and I wanted to be back at the firm on a more consistent basis.”
Coladipietro serves on the legislative committee of the DuPage Mayors and Manager, which named him Governmental Leader of the Year in 2018. He is a past president of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and serves on the board of the Italian American Political Coalition.
As for whether he will run again once his term as mayor ends in 2029, that remains to be seen, he says.
“I take one term at a time. I need to be in a position to positively impact my community, and I need to have the same passion I currently have for the job,” he says. “I’m not interested in just running meetings and cutting ribbons. I need to have purpose and provide value to our residents and the community.”
