A vacant grocery store in the Seminole Square shopping center eventually could be replaced by hundreds of new apartments.

The Charlottesville Planning Commission on Tuesday gave feedback on design concepts for an apartment complex on the former site of the Giant Food store.

Great Eastern Management Co., which manages Seminole Square, has proposed constructing 11 five-story buildings with a total of about 500 residential units. The project also would add about 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

David Mitchell, a principal at Great Eastern, said the residential development would drive the transformation of Charlottesville’s U.S. 29 corridor into a more walkable community.

“Not tomorrow, not 10 years from now, but 20 years from now, I think the rest of Seminole Square will start to look a lot like this,” Mitchell said.

Seminole Square has lacked an anchor tenant since Giant closed in 2012. Kroger currently leases the building, although the grocer has suspended plans to relocate its store at Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29 to the site.

Mitchell said Great Eastern will negotiate the end of Kroger’s lease while moving forward with regulatory processes for the proposed apartments.