Colorado Real Estate Journal -
When a major department chain announces it is closing an anchor store, it’s often a cause of alarm for a city that fears losing crucial sales tax revenues. That was not the case when Sears Holding Corp. recently announced it would close the Sears store at 5501 W. 88th Ave. in Westminster. After all, the 134,332-square foot Sears, initially opened as a Broadway Southwest in 1985, is part of the former Westminster Mall. The mall, known in real estate parlance as a “dinosaur mall,” is in the process of being redeveloped into a much more dense, urban-styled, mixed-use development. Soon after the announcement by Sears Holding, the Westminster Economic Development Authority authorized City Manager Brent McFall to enter into an agreement to purchase the 7.9-acre site, which includes a parking lot, for $4.2 million. The deal is expected to be finalized Feb. 29. Sears will remain on the property until the end of June. After that, the store and auto center will be demolished as part of the redevelopment of the entire 105-acre site. “We are very pleased to have arrived at this mutual agreement for the acquisition of this property,” said Westminster Mayor Nancy McNally in a statement. “At the same time we are sorry to see Sears leave our city as they have been valuable and contributing members to our community. This purchase is an important piece in the assemblage of ownerships that is paving the way to a redevelopment of the site.” The WEDA acquired most of the 105-acre site last May with the intent of conveying the property to a developer to create an urban center in accordance with the city’s wishes for redevelopment. “The city’s vision for the site is one of densities that could be three times that of the former mall,” McFall said. “That would mean verticality – in other words – a skyline for Westminster. The uses would be mixed and include retail, office and residential.” The city contacted Sears soon after it decided to move forward with the redevelopment of the Westminster Mall, said Susan Grafton, economic development director for the city. “We sent them a notice of an intention to acquire it, which is a legal notification. We did that some time ago. We told them that we were getting an appraisal and suggested that they may want to get an appraisal.” Discussions picked up after Sears Holding announced it was closing 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide as a cost-cutting measure to boost its bottom line. The Westminster Sears was No. 81 in store closings. The $4.2 million purchase price was a negotiated price between the two appraisals, Grafton said. “They had their appraisal and we had ours, and this was somewhat in the middle.” It’s too early to tell what ultimately will be built on the Sears site, she said. “We have no idea,” Grafton said. “All I can tell you is that our overall plan is to have a high density development that is more dense than most suburban uses. Really, we will have a mixed use, urban-like development that will be the equivalent of a suburban downtown. Let’s say the mall was around 1 million sf; our vision is to ultimately to have between 3 million sf and 4 million sf. That means we will go vertical. There is no height limitation. Theoretically, we could have 30-story buildings. “Realistically, the tallest will probably be around the height of the Westin Westminster. I’d guess the maximum height will be in the 10- to 13-stories range.” She said the city is close to announcing Westminster is in exclusive negotiations with a developer. “I’m not at liberty to name the developer yet.”