GREEN VALLEY NEWS
BY: Philip Franchine
December 14, 2012
Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts will be opening a store in the old Bashas’ store in Sahuarita Plaza, but PetSmart, another long-rumored possibility, is not coming, PICOR leasing agent Rob Tomlinson said. The popular fabric store has eight locations in the Phoenix area and two in Tucson and this will be its first south of Tucson. Although Jo-Ann has not signed a lease yet, Tomlinson said the company is coming to the plaza. It is listed as an adjoining tenant on the Ace Hardware tenant improvement plan filed with the town of Sahuarita, along with PetSmart, but Tomlinson said the latter is no longer seeking space there.
However, Tomlinson said, “We have another high-profile national tenant that we are working with for that space.”
No timeline has been established yet for Jo-Ann’s, nor has an exact square footage been set, but the town said there are 30,277 square feet next to the Ace Hardware and Tomlinson said Jo-Ann and the third tenant should take up that space. Ace Hardware will take 10,903 square feet on the eastern end of the space. The advent of Jo-Ann’s and Ace Hardware means the central building of the plaza is nearly full. Along the outer ring, AutoZone has signed a purchase agreement for a 30,056 square foot lot and has submitted plans to build a 6,815 square foot building east of the main entrance to the plaza from Nogales Highway, across from Abrego Drive. That store could open in summer.
AutoZone’s request to have a 21-foot high roof limit was granted by the Town Council and raised the height limit across the board in the plaza, so as construction workers transform the facade at the former Bashas’ store, they are building it above the old limit, town officials said.
Philip Franchine | 547-9738
