The former WalMart store at University Place has a new owner and name. Tricor International Corp. of Florida, a major developer of residential and commercial properties, bought the building and 15.6-acres in August for $5.4 million, according to county tax records.

SHOPPES AT UNIVERSITY COMMONS

Tricor has renamed the building the Shoppes at University Commons and has begun marketing the existing 126,397-square-foot building for retail uses. The marketing materials say that the current building can be subdivided and also expanded by 26,583 square feet. “Additionally, +/- 15,000 SF of retail shop space is planned,” says the marketing brochure.
Walmart opened here 19 years ago but moved in 2011 to a nearby site on North Tryon Street near IKEA.
Few issues have prompted as much concern over the past several years about the vitality of University City’s retail market as the former WalMart building. Even though WalMart has rejected several offers on the building and site, some people have worried that the 2.5-year vacancy signaled a decline in University City’s retail.
Unless Tricor plans massive changes, the site should require no rezoning for its new tenant. However, because the property is within University Place, the site is under review by the University Place Owners Association.
The new owners have received those regulations. That review process generally does not begin until the new tenants are signed and upfit requirements are being addressed.

ABOUT TRICOR

Tricor International Corporation and companies affiliated with its principals have been developing residential and commercial properties for the past thirty years. A multi-faceted corporation with headquarters located in Florida, Tricor has owned and developed more than nine million square feet of commercial buildings and thousands of residential units. Under the direction of Marc Hagle as President and Chief Executive Officer and Walter Krumm as Chairman, the companies have built numerous single-family and multi-use communities, apartment complexes, shopping centers, warehouses, medical facilities, recreational facilities, drug stores, and office projects throughout Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Georgia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Montana, Illinois, and Texas. Affiliated companies own real estate throughout the United States.
Tricor currently shows 19 retail properties across North Carolina among its lease listings.