The Sears building at one point absorbed a former Burdines department store.
The stores occupy 77,000 square feet in a former Sears building, a 1942 landmark that sits atop a subway station.
The Sears building on the far end of the project might be saved by getting historic certification.
The Sears building, he said, "does have great long-term real estate fundamentals."
The Sears building was later occupied by a Big Lots discount store, which closed in 2003.
On April 13, 2009, a woman was killed after her car crashed into the Sears building.
And the nearby former Sears building, also empty for several years, has already been converted into offices.
The movie theater was built on the site of a former Sears building.
The hospital was ahead on the right, on the previous site of a Sears building.
And the old Sears building went on to become a car dealership, then an office.