The city has filed a notice of "urban redevelopment" plans to make improvements to a former Sears department store on a 15-acre site at 8020 Mall Parkway so that it can be used as the city's Government Administration Services Building.
The Sears store at the Mall at Stonecrest opened in October 2001 and closed in December 2017. Last October, the Stonecrest City Council approved the purchase of the building for $2.1 million.
The city also wants to take the former Sam's Club at 2994 Turner Hill and turn it into a new City Hall for Stonecrest. The warehouse club store closed abruptly two years ago when Sam's Club closed 63 stores nationwide in one week.
There is a report that the Stonecrest Mall could go into foreclosure in February. Mayor Jason Lary says the city is "strategically planning viable economic development around the mall that will thrive and will help the mall thrive."
"We have plans in place that will keep The Mall at Stonecrest from falling to the condition of other unsuccessful area malls," Lary says.
