Dallas company buys former Sears store at Lindale Mall

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Dallas-based investment company, Reserve Development, has bought the former Sears property at Lindale Mall.

The company plans to renovate the building and seek national retailers for the facility, according to a Lindale news release.

Lindale General Manager Becky Eckley said she cannot comment on the purchase price or the redevelopment plans.

“We are excited to work with our new neighbors and witness the ongoing redevelopment,” Eckley said in a statement.

Sears previously sold the Lindale store to Seritage SRC Finance, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that it created but does not control. City assessor’s records still list that trust as the owner.

The property’s assessed value is listed at nearly $3.6 million.

The approximately 129,000-square-foot store at 4600 First Ave. NE was the last Sears store in Cedar Rapids and the Corridor when it closed in July 2018.

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The Sears store, which had been in downtown Cedar Rapids, was built as a Lindale anchor in 1960, along with Younkers and Killians, both of which have closed. Von Maur, the other anchor, remains in business.

Kohan Retail Investment Group bought the 732,666-square-foot Lindale Mall from Washington Properties in March 2023 for $28.5 million. That deal included the now-vacant Hy-Vee Food Store just west of the mall. But it didn’t include the Sears property, then owned by the New York-based Seritage.

Reserve’s managing partners, Jeff Strong and Sean Porter, said in a news release they were “excited to collaborate with the Lindale team and join this community.”

The investment company stated its goal is to “always design a property’s experience that maximizes business value for the user, fosters a sense of community and enhances the physical experience and environment for our tenants, their employees and customers.”

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com

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