Seritage Growth Properties plans a $20 million-plus redevelopment for its Sears store at the Broward Mall in Plantation, including adding new restaurants and retailers.
The plan, unveiled Wednesday night at a city council meeting, is to turn 90,000 square feet of the existing 180,000-square-foot store into a development with six restaurants and five retail spaces. Sears will continue to operate in a smaller space.
Seritage Growth Properties owns a 14-acre parcel at Broward Mall. It has letters of intent and expects to sign leases with Connors Steak and Seafood restaurant and GameTime, a video game and sports bar, by the end of the month, said Paul D’Arelli, senior vice president of development at Seritage. He added that his company is also in negotiations with other prospective tenants. “We are over-subscribed with tenant interest right now,” he said.
Seritage purchased 235 Sears and Kmart stores from Sears Holdings Corp. earlier this year. Under the terms of the sale, Seritage can recapture some properties which allows the real estate investment trust to redevelop the sites. It has 224 properties leased to Sears Holdings operating under the Sears or Kmart brand.
The overall plan at the Broward Mall for the as-yet-unnamed development is to seek out “high quality restaurants and some fast casual,” said D’Arelli. There will be a plaza aimed as a gathering spot with fire pits similar to “a sophisticated hotel patio,” he said.
Seritage has redeveloped other Sears stores in the area. At Aventura Mall, for example, it is taking back the entire store. In its place, it will build Esplanade at Aventura, with 215,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.