The city of Garland spent $6.3 million this week to buy the site of the country's original Hypermart store, Wal-Mart's 226,000-square-foot retail behemoth of a bygone era.

Empty for the last decade, the building soon will be demolished and cleared by the seller, leaving the city with 24 acres it believes will become linked to a valuable freeway corridor.

Bryan Bradford, Garland city manager (City of Garland)

"When you've got a property that is in a key entryway into the city and there is an opportunity to acquire that and control its future use, it only makes sense to go ahead and do that," City Manager Bryan Bradford said.

But city leaders admit they don't know what that use will be.

"There's not a developer waiting in the wings that we're going to be handing the property to," Bradford said. "We realize that there could be some time involved."

He said the buy was made possible several years ago, when the City Council approved the setting aside of money for economic development projects.

Staffers had been conservative in the use of those funds, but in a council retreat a few months ago, discussed buying available properties as a tool for their future development. The Hypermart site fits the strategy.

"It represents Garland taking a much more active and aggressive stance in redeveloping some of the older properties," Bradford said.

The site is hampered by the fact that nearby Interstate 635 has no service roads at the intersection of State Highway 78. Access should improve with the long-awaited I-635 East project, a top priority that has been stalled by lack of funding.

"We're confident that 635 will happen. It may not be on the timetable we had hoped," Bradford said. "It certainly played into the thought process of acquiring this."

1 / 3The empty Hypermart is a 226,000-square-foot building that sits on a 24-acre site in Garland. (Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer) 2 / 3A gate to the empty Hypermart site in Garland is locked. The city plans to buy the site of the nation's first Hypermart for $6.3 million. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)(Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer) 3 / 3The empty Hypermart has a 226,000-square-foot building and sits on a 24-acre site in Garland. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)(Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer)

Storied history

Hypermart took off when it opened in December 1987, drawing as many as 40,000 customers a day. Wal-Mart officials said people came from as far away as Sherman and Tyler and projected $120 million to $150 million in sales the first year.

But the buzz wore off, and only a handful of Hypermarts were ever built. Wal-Mart originally toned down the Garland site as a Super Wal-Mart, then closed it to build one of the chain's more traditional stores nearby.

With that new store came a deed restriction on the property. Nothing that would directly compete with Wal-Mart would be allowed there.

"They do allow for other retail uses," said Rick Vasquez, assistant city manager. "But at a much smaller scale than a Wal-Mart."

'We believe in Garland'

So what else do you do with a Hypermart? It's a question that has vexed Garland leaders and site owners who had patronized the mega-shop for the last decade.

In late 2015, there was a buyer on the line with a proposal to re-purpose the property as a sports facility and storage units. But instead of the deed, it was the city's zoning restrictions that came into play. A zoning change had to go through the council, and when neighbors protested the storage units, the plan was overwhelmingly denied.

Rich Aubin was one of those neighbors who spoke against the plan in 2015. He's since been elected to the council and admits there are still challenges with the property.

"But I'm convinced we can work through those," Aubin said. "This is a chance to get what people want and build a great gateway for South Garland.

"It's council saying we're going to be actively engaged, telling developers and citizens that we believe in Garland and you should, too."