The company is planning on building a supercenter store in Lodi, California, but a major a stumbling block is the old building which will be across the street from the new store:
As a condition of the permit, the Supercenter's developer would be required to lease at least half of the existing Wal-Mart before the Supercenter can be built.Now the city wants to rework the building permit to give the Supercenter's developer the option of selling or demolishing the existing store, with the intent that another retailer would reoccupy the property, Lodi leaders say.
A new building would go up if the existing store is razed, Hansen said. "It's not tearing it down and walking away," he said.
Giving developer Darryl Browman more options in the building permit could help ensure the existing property doesn't end up vacant, Hansen added. "My feeling is that we have to see if we can work more closely with the developer in re-tenanting the (current) building. We'll work out the right kind of language."
Browman owns most of the existing Wal-Mart shopping complex and is the developer for the proposed 245,157-square-foot Supercenter at Lower Sacramento Road and Kettleman Lane.
Herum urged the city to make sure Wal-Mart does find a retail tenant for the existing building before the Supercenter opens.
Posted by Bob on February, 5 2005 at 02:02 PM
