Retail giant Wal-Mart pulled building permits this week from the
City of Morgan Hill for its planned store in Cochrane Plaza.
Retail giant Wal-Mart pulled building permits this week from the City of Morgan Hill for its planned store in Cochrane Plaza.
Already, Wal-Mart’s presumed contractor, Shales Construction, has erected green construction fencing around the old Target store, where the shop will be located.
The 80,000-square-foot store will likely open in the fall, according to Business Assistance and Housing Services Director Garrett Toy.
“It’s good for the center, definitely,” he said. “You’re pretty sure they’re going to move forward because they bought the building, but you never really know until they pull the permit.”
Toy said he believed the contractor expected to finish with renovations by July. Then Wal-Mart will come in to “fixturize” and stock, which Toy assumed would take anywhere from 30 to 60 days.
Toy said between 25,000 to 30,000 square feet of the building will be groceries and the rest will have apparel and other retail sections, with a gardening section outdoors.
Cochrane Plaza, located between Sutter Boulevard and U.S. 101 on Cochrane Road, was largely empty for nearly a month, with retailers Ross and Mervyns deserting their locations there shortly after Christmas.
In 2007, Target moved from Cochrane Plaza to the new Cochrane Commons retail center about half a mile east, on the other side of Highway 101.
