Building permits filed last month by the new owners of the former Sears building at Gateway Mall confirm that Burlington Stores and Sierra Trading Post will be coming to Lincoln.
While the two building permits — one for $2 million and one for $1.35 million — detail only the interior work being done in two of the three retail bays being created in the former store, documents filed along with them name the two tenants.
According to those documents, Burlington Stores will be taking up about 25,000 square feet in Suite 100 and Sierra Trading Post will be located in about 19,000 square feet in Suite 200.
Those two tenants, which will be new to Lincoln, had been mentioned in building permits filed in 2022 by a previous owner of the 120,000-square-foot former Sears building, which has been vacant since the store closed in March 2019.
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Reserve Development, the new owner, has declined to comment on its plans but has said in city planning documents that it will be bringing three retailers new to Lincoln to the development. It has not filed a building permit for the remaining space in the building.
A Tesla service center is already open in the former Sears Auto Center.
Burlington, which used to be known as Burlington Coat Factory, sells men's, women's and kids' clothing and shoes, as well as toys, books and housewares. It is similar to stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross.
Sierra Trading Post also sells discounted items, but its focus is more on athletic and outdoors gear, including clothing and shoes. It is owned by TJX Cos., which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods.
The stores, which are both off-price retailers, have locations in the Omaha area. Burlington has three stores, while Sierra Trading Post has one.
It's unknown when the stores might open.
Burlington lists new store openings on its website as far out as August and does not have Lincoln listed. The company said last month that it plans to open 100 new stores in its current fiscal year, which ends Feb. 1.
Sierra added 17 stores in its last fiscal year but still has fewer than 100 nationwide.
Reserve Development is seeking to use both tax-increment financing and a 0.5% occupation tax to help pay for the $36 million redevelopment.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission has heard those plans and recommended approval to the City Council, which has yet to consider them.