A shopping center some 4 miles southeast of downtown Denver is expected to see the beginning of a major makeover later this spring.
The North Clayton Lane Center in the 2300 block of First Avenue was for years anchored by a 150,000 square foot Sears store.
In early 2015 it was announced that that store, as part of a nationwide Sears strategy eventually seeing around one hundred stores closed, was going out of business.
What to do with that big space, on a 5.4-acre site populated with a Whole Foods Grocery Store, Wells Fargo Bank, and Crate and Barrel furniture store, among other businesses, has been the subject of speculation for the last three years.
Now, the San Diego-based Olive McMillan LLC, a commercial real estate development firm that purchased the center for $170 million, has announced plans to redevelop the entire site, with an eye towards making the property more open and walkable.
Those plans include demolishing the former Sears store, and building a new space for the Whole Foods store. The redevelopment could also eventually see the construction of another three new buildings to be used primarily for retail purposes.
The Cherry Creek neighborhood, where the average home is valued at around $750,000, has in recent years also become known for its cluster of upscale retail, restaurant, and office properties.
