Stoncrest URA agrees to sell city-owned Sears buildings for $2.4 million

STONECREST–The Stonecrest Urban Redevelopment Agency (URA) has agreed to move forward in selling the city-owned Sears buildings to Stonecrest Resorts, LLC, a development affiliate of Urban Retail.

The URA received bids from Stonecrest Resorts, LLC and one other unnamed entity, but ultimately selected the $2.4 million bid offered by Stonecrest Resorts, LLC (Urban Retail), which recently acquired The Mall at Stonecrest, where the Sears building is located. 

The URA  approved a motion 5-0 at the May 10 special called meeting to issue a letter of intent to sell the Sears property. The motion included a modification that stipulates the Sears building, automotive center and parking would all be included in the purchase, said Edmund Wall, financial advisor to URA. The initial proposal had only been for the purchase of the Sears building.

Wall said the letter of intent is not binding but sets forth the terms that attorneys for the city and the buyer would use to draft the actual agreement for the purchase.

“Once we get the signed letter of intent, the next steps would be to get a binding purchase and sale agreement,” City Attorney Winston Denmark told On Common Ground News today ( May 11).

Denmark said the documents likely would be presented to the URA for approval within the next week or so and closing would follow.

Under the pending agreement, $500,000 would be paid at closing and $1.9 million would be paid within six months from an escrow account, Wall told the URA.

The city would make a profit, according to previous reports by city officials. In June 2020, the URA approved the issuance of $5,410,000 in revenue bonds to finance the city’s purchase of the Sam’s Club, the home of the future City Hall, and the Sears building, automotive center and parking.. The city used $2,215,000 of the money to purchase the Sears buildings.

“If the sale goes through, the city would be ahead in terms of profit, based on the numbers that I’ve seen,” Denmark said.