Industrial Commercial Properties buys Garfield Heights Kmart for $1.4 million

Stan Bullard
Crain’s Cleveland Business

The empty Kmart store at 12501 Rockside Road in Garfield Heights has gained a new owner and may gain a new use after an affiliate of Industrial Commercial Properties of Solon acquired it for $1.4 million on Friday, Nov. 22, according to Cuyahoga County land records.

Chris Semarjian, ICP’s owner, said in a news release on Tuesday, Nov. 26, that he was attracted to the property by its proximity to the I-480 corridor and the fact that its design lends itself to assembly and warehouse space if not continued use as retail space.

All that’s certain so far is that the company will update the 1977-vintage building, especially its exterior.

The struggling retailer announced in 2017 it planned to shut the store. The one-time Big Kmart has 85,600 square feet of selling space and sits on 9 acres. Cuyahoga County assigned it a market value of $2 million and ascribed most of the value, or $1.1 million, to the land and almost $881,000 to the structure.

Garfield Heights Mayor Vic Collova said in a phone interview that he is pleased by ICP’s plan to find a user for the site that may bring jobs to the city.