2008 Woodie Awards
Residents, retail could replace old Wal-Mart
Braden Lammers
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: Community
The Wal-Mart lot on the corner of Locust and Spring streets may no longer sit vacant, if a Oxford Planning Commission plan is approved by Oxford City Council.
The Oxford Planning Commission approved a $20 million development to replace the abandoned Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. building Tuesday, April 10.
The former Wal-Mart building's 104,000-square-feet of space will potentially be a private, mixed-use development. The site will be divided between retail and residential space.
The developer, Trammell Crow Co., would not use the existing Wal-Mart building, explained Bill Brewer, vice chair of the Oxford Planning Commission. Brewer said Trammell Crow would replace the former Wal-Mart structure with several buildings. Businesses will occupy around 40,000-square-feet of the space.
The $20 million development has no definitive timeline on when actual construction would begin. There is also no target completion date set because the proposal must achieve final approval from the Oxford City Council. Though Brewer didn't know an exact date for the presentation of the proposal, he said the proposal would be made "pretty soon."
It is not yet known how the business space will be divided or what businesses may occupy the space once completed, said Sondra Engel, a member of the planning commission.
"(Wal-Mart) has been an empty site … an eyesore for a couple of years," Engel said."Some type of development was expected."
Wal-Mart had a very long lease on the site, and Engel said her impression was that they held on to the lease until someone had a development plan ready to go outside of another big box company moving in the space.
"It isn't up to the planning commission to say what businesses should go in there," Engel said.
According to Engel, the development calls for the use of business property at the front of the lot and residential property behind that.
Brewer said the residential area will contain six buildings, consisting of 68 apartments, and will be designed for students only. In addition, Brewer also said each apartment would be able to house four students under the proposed designs.
The Oxford Planning Commission approved a $20 million development to replace the abandoned Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. building Tuesday, April 10.
The former Wal-Mart building's 104,000-square-feet of space will potentially be a private, mixed-use development. The site will be divided between retail and residential space.
The developer, Trammell Crow Co., would not use the existing Wal-Mart building, explained Bill Brewer, vice chair of the Oxford Planning Commission. Brewer said Trammell Crow would replace the former Wal-Mart structure with several buildings. Businesses will occupy around 40,000-square-feet of the space.
The $20 million development has no definitive timeline on when actual construction would begin. There is also no target completion date set because the proposal must achieve final approval from the Oxford City Council. Though Brewer didn't know an exact date for the presentation of the proposal, he said the proposal would be made "pretty soon."
It is not yet known how the business space will be divided or what businesses may occupy the space once completed, said Sondra Engel, a member of the planning commission.
"(Wal-Mart) has been an empty site … an eyesore for a couple of years," Engel said."Some type of development was expected."
Wal-Mart had a very long lease on the site, and Engel said her impression was that they held on to the lease until someone had a development plan ready to go outside of another big box company moving in the space.
"It isn't up to the planning commission to say what businesses should go in there," Engel said.
According to Engel, the development calls for the use of business property at the front of the lot and residential property behind that.
Brewer said the residential area will contain six buildings, consisting of 68 apartments, and will be designed for students only. In addition, Brewer also said each apartment would be able to house four students under the proposed designs.
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