Colonie

The former Sears Auto Center at Colonie Center will transition from cars to carbs.

BJ's Brewhouse will open a restaurant in part of the space, one of three locations nationally where the restaurant will replace the repair shop.

Seritage Growth Properties, which owns the Sears store at Colonie Center as well as the auto center building, listed plans for the site in its earnings report. The same restaurant will open on the site of two former auto centers in Maryland.

"These spaces will be repurposed for BJ's Brewhouse occupying 7,000 to 8,000 square feet per location, as well as additional restaurant users and small shop retailers," the report said.

The restaurant advertises itself as providing a Southern California twist on Chicago-style deep dish pizza, as well as selling burgers, salads and other entrees.

The former auto center at Colonie Center includes 28,000 square feet of space. Although the repair shop is closed, Avis and Budget continue to operate their car rental businesses in the largely vacant structure for now.

The cost for the remodeling is $5.7 million, Seritage said in its report. Construction work is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with the project to be "substantially complete" in the third quarter of 2017.

Despite the similar names, the restaurant is not related to BJ's Wholesale Club, located in the shopping center opposite Colonie Center on Central Avenue.

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu