Sears Sold at Richardson Square, But It Won't Close … Yet

Sears at Richardson Square is among a group of stores that Sears is selling this year trying to raise $1 billion. The Sears location, the last piece of the old mall, has been sold to Dallas-based real estate developer ATRCorinth.The 128,000-square-foot store isn't closing. Sears has a short-term lease on it, and the property will likely be redeveloped in a couple of years, said Dallas developer Frank Mihalopoulos.There are lots of future prospects for the property which is on the southeast corner of Belt Line and Plano Roads, he said. "It's good real estate and in the heart of Richardson."The Richardson Square stores is one of three Sears stores purchased by ATRCorinth, a firm controlled Mihalopoulos and Anthony Ruggeri.The two other Sears stores are in older malls that Mihalopoulos and Ruggeri purchased early last year and are in the process of redeveloping: Northlake Mall in Atlanta and Forest Mall in Fond du Lac, Wisc. The Atlanta Sears store is still open. The Wisconsin location has been closed.Store closings by longtime mall tenants such as The Limited, Rue 21, Payless, RadioShack, Finish Line and Aeropostale this year have emptied out some space faster than anticipated, Mihalopoulos said, but he still sees value in redeveloping older malls with grocery stores, for example, and using the sites to build apartments or office space.  Continue reading...