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Burlington Coat Factory plans to downsize its Richardson location and make room for an additional business.
City Council approved a rezoning Aug. 17 for the property that will allow additional uses in the vacant half of the building, including fitness or entertainment businesses.
The overview
Burlington Coat Factory currently occupies a 74,000-square-foot building on S. Plano Road.
The store is not currently using the entire building, said Maxwell Fisher, a consultant with Zonedev who is representing the property owners.
Burlington plans to downsize to half of the building, leaving the other half open for another tenant.
Fisher said the new business is likely to be a fitness center, as several have already expressed interest in the site, but the rezoning would also allow the following new uses:
The rezoning will also include prohibited uses for the property, which were identified as more “intense uses” by the developer and the surrounding neighborhood. Prohibited uses will include a car wash, child-care center, convenience store, motor vehicle repair or service shop and smoking establishment.
A closer look
The building is obscured from the intersection by other developments, Fisher said, putting it at a disadvantage compared to nearby retail locations.
“It doesn’t have the same visibility,” Fisher said. “It’s hard for us to rely on impulse purchases. We need a destination-type use, and adjusting the zoning would accommodate that.”
As part of the proposal, senior planner Derica Peters said the property owners will add another light on the property as well as four additional landscape islands with canopy trees. Fisher said the owners also plan on improvements to the building, including roof work, repainting and adding architectural elements to the entrance.
