The Dover Planning Commission has unanimously approved a plan to redevelop the site of the old Walmart off Route 13.
The long vacant building that used to house the big box store has been unoccupied since October 2011, when the retail giant moved to a new location two miles north in Cheswold.
Commissioners voted 8-0 to greenlight the project.
Bill Neaton, Dover’s Director of Economic Development says the redevelopment is a big deal for Dover.
“It’s huge,” he notes. “It’s been vacant for a number of years and this plan is just perfect with retail and restaurant pad sites so we’re really thrilled. They’ll have some landscaping and sidewalking and they’re going to get started on construction almost right away.”
The existing commercial building will undergo renovations to enable its division into multiple retail spaces.
New tenants will include an Outback Steakhouse, Ross Dress for Less, Petco, Five Below and Ulta Beauty.
Neaton says several other vacant stores on Route 13 are also being redeveloped. The owner of the old Kmart is in the process of signing an as yet unnamed new tenant and the former Office Max will soon be occupied.
“That building is also being renovated even as we speak,” he says. “That building was purchased by a company called Produce Junction and they hope to be up and operational by the end of the summer.”
Founded In 1977, Produce Junction operates several stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.