Texas group buys vacant Wal-Mart
January 17, 2009
A hulking, empty Wal-Mart shopping center on Main Street in Plainfield has been sold to a Dallas-based real estate investment group with big plans for redevelopment. In a court-approved sale, the Tabani Group has acquired the former center at 2575 E. Main St. that was owned by financially troubled Premier Properties.
Tabani also bought the nearby Main Street Crossing strip retail center built by Premier at Perry Road and Main Street. It is a smaller center that was anchored by Joe's Grille and Cord Camera, but both businesses closed last month.
Indianapolis-based Premier is facing a blizzard of lawsuits over unpaid debts in several states, where mortgage holders foreclosed on loans, and Premier's founder, Christopher White, is facing fraud charges in Indianapolis. Plainfield officials said new ownership for some of Premier's real estate may help preserve the successful buildings and remodel the older prime locations along Main such as the former Wal-Mart. "We're very excited to be in the Plainfield market because of all the potential. The demographics and the excitement in the whole trade area are encouraging," said Jeremiah Sunden, national sales director for Tabani. "We see Plainfield as one of the three fastest-growing (retail) markets in Indiana because of its history of population growth and in the (nearby) industrial parks. "Even in difficult times, there is always demand for good real estate." The regional shopping and dining district along Main and around Metropolis is still busy with shoppers despite the nationwide recession. The 23-acre Wal-Mart site with a long-vacant building of nearly 200,000 square feet is a valuable property in the heart of Plainfield's commercial corridor. It has been empty since 2005, when Wal-Mart built a new supercenter and moved several blocks to the west. Premier then bought the old Wal-Mart, which is next to the J.C. Penney store and Metropolis. Though Premier never announced firm plans for the former Wal-Mart, company representatives talked of several possibilities. It could be redeveloped with several tenants or it could be torn down to open up the view from heavily traveled Main Street toward Metropolis. Tabani hasn't finalized a plan for using the vacant building. "One of the great things about former Wal-Mart buildings is their flexibility," Sunden said. However, Tabani's Web site does show a new plan for the center to be renamed the Shops at Metropolis. The company is touting an artist's sketch that shows at least one possible renovation of the long-low department store building converted to a strip center. There could be several new main doorways so that each major tenant would have an entry. The upscale design would be similar to the modern facade on both the Metropolis mall and the prairie style architecture of the new Plainfield High School that opened last year. "We're open to any suggestion. We've learned to be creative and to have open minds as we look to backfill the space," Sunden said
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