A few blocks from the ocean, in the heart of Santa Monica, Calif., plans for “creative” offices are taking shape, tailored to the area’s burgeoning tech industry.

In Hicksville, on Long Island, a proposal for nearly 600 units would form the community’s largest apartment complex.

And in Aventura, Fla., construction has started on a “luxurious” shopping center with restaurants, water fountains and boulevards lined by palm trees.

These developments are rising from the ashes of former Sears department stores. And they represent an audacious feat of financial engineering by a group of wealthy investors who bet that one of the retailer’s greatest assets was its real estate.