Sears closed its Boise Towne Square store in 2019. N. Carolina developer has big plans
The former Sears store at the Boise Towne Square mall has sat vacant for more than two years since the Chicago-area company declared bankruptcy and shuttered nearly 200 stores nationwide.
The two-story building, owned separately from the rest of the mall, could see new life as housing and retail space after its purchase by a Charlotte, North Carolina, development company. The building has 120,800 square feet while the property covers 8.3 acres, including parking space on three sides of the building. according to the Ada County Assessor’s Office.
Madison Capital Group bought the Boise building and another vacant Sears building at the Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, Georgia. The company specializes in multifamily developments and self-storage buildings and in a news release said the Boise building would be redeveloped in a project that could “include residential housing and retail.”
“In the multifamily sector, we focus on development of high quality apartment communities throughout the Southeast,” the company said on its website.
In February, an Oklahoma consulting company, NV5 Zoning, asked the city of Boise for a letter describing the zoning of the Sears property. It’s zoned General Commercial with Design Review and has a mixed-use land-use designation, which would allow high-density residential housing and live-work units.
Sears was one of four original anchors when Boise Towne Square opened in September 1988. The Bon Marché, now Macy’s, JC Penney and Mervyn’s were the others.
Seritage Growth Properties, a spinoff of Sears Holdings, took over ownership of the Sears building in January 2020, after the store closed. The company spent the last two years seeking a buyer.
At first, Seritage looked for a retailer who might continue to use the space as a store or split it into up to four spaces.
The sales price of the Sears building was not disclosed.
Madison Capital founder and CEO Ryan Hanks did not immediately return a call for comment.
The mall neighborhood already is emerging as a new home for apartments as Boise grows and housing prices rise.
A Boise developer has plans to build 71 micro-apartments with 340 square feet to 412 square feet each on land bordering Boise Towne Square. The Cole Road Apartments would be located at 709 N. Cole Road, across from Candlewood Suites.
The Ridenbaugh Canal separates the property from the mall parking lot.
Just south of that property and across Cole, another developer plans a five-story, 136-unit apartment building. Most of those units, at 580 N. Cole Road, would have two bedrooms.
The Boise City Council approved a modified development agreement for that unnamed project on Tuesday.
The sale of the Sears building was first reported by REBusiness Online, an online business news site in Atlanta.
Last month, Madison Capital Group bought 11 acres in St. John, Florida, that it plans to develop into a 280-unit apartment complex. The company has similar projects in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
Madison Capital is converting a former Hobby Lobby store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, into a self-storage building. Under its Go Store It Self Storage subsidiary, Madison has expanded to 28 locations in eight states since 2013.
Madison Capital paid $3.9 million for the Hobby Lobby building in Louisiana, while a former Tacoma, Washington, Kmart store operated by Sears recently sold in an unrelated deal for $14 million. The same property sold in 2013 for $5.5 million.
