California-based Carrington Company has bought the former Kmart building at 1325 E. Jackson St. in Macomb.
The 91,890 square foot building has sat empty since Kmart closed the store in the autumn of 2016.
Mayor Mike Inman said Carrington intends to turn the space into a multi-tenant retail center.
“There’s expectations they will be national-branded retail establishments, maybe upwards of three to five tenants in that rehabbed building,” he said.
AMERCO Real Estate Company planned to buy the building a couple years ago and fill the space with a mini-warehouse, storage facility, and U-Haul center. But those plans fell through.
Inman is confident the new proposal will happen.
“I think once the Carrington group has all of their letters of intent executed and they have tenants lined up to occupy the space, we would look very much forward to having some announcement about who those tenants are -- maybe, maybe, hopefully by the end of the calendar year,” the mayor said.
Inman said there have been several challenges in trying to fill such a large space, not the least of which is competition from online shopping.
But he believes consumers are coming back around to doing at least some shopping in-person.
In addition, he said building materials have become more expensive and harder to come by. He believes that’s made existing buildings more attractive for development than new construction.
Inman said it’s a good feeling to see some movement on the building.
“We’ll be grateful when we’re cutting ribbons out there. That’s when we’ll know it’s a done deal,” he said.
Inman said it’s important to have retail options in the community. He wants residents and people from other towns to spend money in Macomb instead of taking those dollars to other communities.
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