Coastal Farm & Ranch, one of the largest retail supply chains in the Pacific Northwest, has signed a letter of intent to purchase the former Walmart store property at 1425 Supermall Way in Auburn.
Auburn officials on Tuesday confirmed the deal, which the City described in a letter sent to Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
“From Auburn’s perspective, this is a major retailer that will provide an excellent source of sales tax dollars, and we understand it will mean up to 75 or more local jobs,” said Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis.
According to its website, the Albany, Ore.-based company offers clothing, hardware, tools, welding and automotive equipment, farm equipment, tack, feed and supplements at stores throughout Washington and Oregon, among them outlets in a former Walmart store in Mount Vernon and in Yakima and Wenatchee. It also carries western footwear and fashion brands, including boots from top manufacturers like Danner, Justin, Georgia, Double-H and LaCrosse.
Coastal Farm & Ranch did not return calls Tuesday.
For its part, Walmart would not confirm that Coastal Farm & Ranch was the buyer or comment on its timelines.
“Walmart has worked for more than a year now, collaborating with the City of Auburn to find a positive solution for its former store on Supermall Way,” said Jennifer Spall, director of public affairs and government relations for Walmart. “Walmart received considerable interest in the property, from numerous desirable retailers, and was deep into a potential transaction from a national retailer, which decided to reevaluate its new-store strategies in markets across the U.S.
“While this was disappointing to everyone involved, we are pleased to announce that Walmart has secured a letter of intent for the purchase of the (property),” Spall said. “The letter has been signed and approved by Walmart, with Mayor Pete Lewis officially endorsing the sale of this Walmart property in a letter we received this week. The sale of the property will constitute our compliance with agreements made with the City previously.”
The agreement now enters into a due-diligence period, and the sale of the property is expected to close early next year.
“A struggling marketplace when it comes to retail-property demand across the region, and particularly in Auburn, has impacted even further the sale or re-lease of this property,” Spall said. “But we are pleased that we have reached this agreement.”
Concerned that the vacant store would become derelict, City officials earlier this year threatened to revoke the new Walmart superstore’s occupancy permit if Walmart failed to fulfill the obligations spelled out in a 2006 development agreement between it, Walmart and the SuperMall’s owner, Glimcher Properties.
That agreement committed Walmart to find a new tenant for the store within five years or raze the building and build new ones. The agreement also gave the City a choice of saying yes or no to any uses of the 150,000-square-foot building, which the retail giant vacated when it opened the superstore north of the Regal Auburn Stadium 17 theaters in 2010.
According to the City’s letter, Walmart’s sale of the site to Coastal constitutes its final compliance with the settlement agreement, if the deal closes by Jan. 25, 2012. But if the sale falls through, the City will consider Walmart in breach of the agreement and subject to payment of damages.
Lewis said Walmart and the SuperMall’s owner plan to work together to find places within the mall’s $25 million expansion plans for some of the businesses that approached Walmart in recent months, asking about the empty store.
“It appears that we will get more businesses here by the process that Walmart went through to identify potential suitors for that site,” Lewis said. “Walmart will be acting as a conduit to see if they would be good partners. These would be welcome additions at the SuperMall.”
