Wal-Mart Market plans on hold

Arizona's troubled real estate sector and flat economy has taken down Wal-Mart.

At least plans for a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on Desert Foothills Parkway near Chandler Boulevard.

The giant blue retailer was ready and waiting to build a 40,000-square-foot, 24-hour neighborhood market, with plans and a building permit, after investing months in neighborhood meetings and redesigns to accommodate residents' concerns.

But Wal-Mart's development partner, BMB Marketplace LLC of Scottsdale, declared bankruptcy earlier this year. And, last month, the land was sold at auction to a bank.

"Now, we're just evaluating the next step," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Delia Garcia.

Originally, Wal-Mart was going to anchor a multi-use shopping center on the parcel, just south of the existing Foothills Ace Hardware, with 40,000 of mixed retail and restaurants surrounding the neighborhood market. But despite Wal-Mart moving forward, BMB had a difficult time finding tenants, which eventually doomed the project.

Wal-Mart is still interested in the area, Garcia said.

"Ahwatukee Foothills is still a market we would like to serve," she said. "We still want to bring the convenience and choice of shopping to residents."

But at this point, without a development partner, Wal-Mart will sit and wait to see what happens to the parcel, Garcia added.

And if a developer buys the land, Wal-Mart will be ready to hit the ground running.

"The land is already zoned commercial and we already have a lot of really good information," said Garcia, on everything from how to mitigate the impact of traffic on nearby residents to how to screen the delivery areas so neighbors won't have to watch trucks being unloaded.

When Wal-Mart first announced plans to build in The Foothills in 2006 some neighbors immediately rose up in opposition. Over the years, Wal-Mart has tried to address specific issues, including traffic and noise, and now Garcia says that work will pay off.

"We have built really strong relations with the homeowners association, the community and the city," she said.

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets are smaller than a traditional Wal-Mart retail outlet, but include everything from a fresh bakery to a pharmacy, as well as the usual selection of foods and produce. According to Garcia, the prices can be up to 20 percent less than other national supermarket chains.