The St. Paul Port Authority is poised to acquire the location of a former “Big Kmart” store on Maryland Avenue near Interstate 35E, a blighted property that hasn’t seen foot traffic since the big box store closed in 2019.

Port Authority officials said they’ve been in discussions, off and on, with the property’s owners since the 1990s to buy the 12.6 acres at 245 Maryland Ave. E. They recently entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the site for $9.5 million by the end of this month, with the intention of knocking Big Kmart down, cleaning up the land and bringing in new industry.

Todd Hurley, president and chief executive officer of the Port Authority, said the agency has a strong track record of attracting developers and commercial tenants to its 23 business centers, several of them located near the Kmart site. “Kmart is the next one,” said Hurley, in a phone interview.

In 2003, Westminster Junction — a former rail switch yard — hosted 50 jobs and paid $138,000 in property taxes. Today, years after being redeveloped into a business center, it hosts 980 jobs and pays $2.5 million in annual property taxes, Hurley said.

“The vision is largely around the success we’ve had in the neighborhood — the Arlington/Jackson site to the north, and Westminster Junction and Williams Hill just across the highway,” he said. “They’re very successful business centers that we’ve developed.”

“There is some contamination we’ll have to take care of, and a functionally obsolete building that we’ll have to demolish,” he added. “This is a challenging site, and there’s going to be some environmental remediation. Then we can get it ready to create jobs and tax base for the city.”

The ownership group is listed in board documents as the Shidler Group and Westinghouse Credit Corporation, known as the Shidler/West Finance Partners V Limited Partnership.

The acquisition announcement, issued Tuesday, included written statements of support from Hurley, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim, who represents the North End.

The St. Paul City Council is scheduled Wednesday to vote on a symbolic resolution supporting the acquisition, sponsored by Council Members Cheniqua Johnson, Nelsie Yang and Kim.

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