By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A developer is proposing a 113,000-square-foot expansion at Wallace Commons, including a department store, a second anchor and two other retail spaces.
Belk has been considering a move from the Salisbury Mall to Wallace Commons, located off Interstate-85 at Julian Road and anchored by Kohl’s.
The Hutton Company, a development and real estate firm based in Tennessee, proposes the new construction on land currently owned by Home Depot. The expansion would be attached to Kohl’s.
Plans call for a 75,000-square-foot department store next to a second anchor store measuring 17,500 square feet. Two smaller retail spaces — both about 10,000 square feet — would connect the existing 68,000-square-foot Kohl’s to the new construction.
Victor Wallace, whose family co-owns Wallace Commons but does not handle leasing, said he wasn’t aware of the proposed expansion but called it “fabulous” news.
“This is a great day for Salisbury and Rowan County and proves that big box retail is still alive and healthy, and people still like to get out and shop and not do everything online,” Wallace said.
Klumac Partners, a Wallace family company, owns Wallace Commons with Collett and Associates of Charlotte. Collett oversees leasing at the development.
If the expansion is built, “it means tax dollars that have been going to other counties will hopefully stay here,” Wallace said. “This is a real vital center, we think, for the future of Salisbury and Rowan County. It’s going to be a hub of retail activity.”
The site plan was submitted to the city’s Technical Review Committee, which will review the proposal at 9 a.m. Thursday in the second-floor conference room at the Plaza.
A similar site plan appeared earlier this summer on the website for Providence Group of Charlotte, hired by Collett and Associates to handle leasing for Wallace Commons. The plan showed a proposed 75,000-square-foot Belk next to Kohl’s, and the website said the tract was under contract for a “Belk-anchored development.”
Belk’s name and logo were removed from the online flyer after a Post reporter began asking questions, and everyone connected to the site has remained mum on the possibility that Belk may leave the troubled Salisbury Mall and build next to Kohl’s.
Plans submitted to Salisbury Development Services are the first official confirmation of the proposed development.
Home Depot paid $3.5 million for about 14 acres next to Kohl’s in 2008 but never developed the tract.
Partners at Collett and Associates and Hutton Company could not be reached for comment.
Wallace said the developer — Hutton — likely has agreements on hold with various tenants, hinging on site plan approval and sale of the property.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.