A grocer-anchored project is being proposed to revitalize property once occupied by the now-shuttered Sears location in Little Rock.
The Shops at University Village development, first reported by Arkansas Times, is being spearheaded by Dallas-based commercial real estate firm Shop Companies.
According to a flier, a 123,000-square-foot unnamed grocery store would sit on the 14-acre site of the former 162,082-square-foot, two-story Sears department store, which closed in July as part of the company's cost-cutting efforts.
Two outlying buildings are planned to its east — one labeled shops A with 14,000 square feet of space and the other shops B with 14,500 square feet of space — at the northwest intersection of Interstate 630 and South University Avenue.
The property, owned by Little Rock Medical Associates IV LLC and Little Rock Medical Associates Limited, also includes a 2.25-acre parcel occupied by Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics, according to Pulaski County assessor's office records.
A 14,137-square-foot Sears Auto Center remains operational on the site of the proposed development. Its fate was not immediately clear Friday afternoon.
Attempts to reach John Doubleday, a senior partner at Shop Companies tied to the project, were not immediately successful. Doubleday has experience bringing grocers such as Kroger and Fresh Market to certain developments, according to his biography.
Shop Companies was also behind the development of Hurricane Creek Village off Interstate 30 in Benton, which is anchored by a Kroger Marketplace.