Chattanooga developer Bassam Issa said Friday that his company has a contract to buy a 15-acre tract at Northgate Mall that has been linked to a new Hamilton County school.
But Issa said that his "options are open" concerning the property that includes the former Sears store.
"At this moment, there's ... no contract on what to do," he said. "I know what I want to do is to develop it."
Earlier this week, renderings were revealed showing a home for a new Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts on the Northgate Mall site at Highway 153 and Hixson Pike.
Complete with a gymnasium, soccer field and playground, the school would be expanded to serve grades K-12 instead of K-8 at CSLA's current East Brainerd location. That plan is part of "Phase Zero" of a 10-year facilities blueprint recommended by MGT Consulting Group to the Hamilton County school board last month.
Issa said Friday that he doesn't have a plan for any specific use for the property, on which he hopes to soon close on the purchase.
Asked about the school proposal, he said "We'll see. It's a community thing. We'll like to help the community whether it's a school or something else. There are so many options about everything."
Earlier this week, Issa said about the idea of CSLA going to the mall site that "It's a good thing, We need a school. That Hixson location is a good fit. It's central to that side of the city."
Issa late last year was part of a development group that bought the vacant J.C. Penney store at Northgate Mall from the Simon Group with the aim of attracting new retail, office or entertainment uses.
Staff file photo by Tim Barber/ The Northgate Sears store sits idle after the department store closed about 15 months ago.In that deal, Issa partnered with John Woods, the chief executive officer at asset manager Southport Capital in the city and a Chattanooga Lookouts owner. CBL Properties, which owns most of the shopping center, also was involved in that deal.
The 173,000-square-foot J.C. Penney space, which has been vacant since it closed in 2014, has the second-largest footprint at the mall behind the 192,500-foot Sears, which closed about 15 months ago.
Also in 2019, Issa purchased the former Firestone tire and service center on the opposite side of the mall.
He has said he plans to build a new Panera restaurant, relocating the existing eatery that's just off the mall's Hixson Pike entrance. Also, Issa said he's looking at placing two other restaurants at the Firestone site, which he purchased from Simon Group.
In 2018, Issa made over the former Kmart store nearby on Highway 153 and leased space to Gabe's and Ollie's Bargain Outlet. Texas Roadhouse also opened on an outparcel of the former Kmart parking lot.
The former Sears building at the mall is owned by Transformco, a company that emerged out of the 2018 bankruptcy of Sears, said Roger Puerto, who runs real estate transactions for that business.
But he said on Thursday that since the property isn't in bankruptcy proceedings, it could be sold free and clear without any involvement by the court.
CSLA's 71-year-old building is prone to water leaks, sits on a shifting foundation, is riddled with windows that don't seal and isn't accessible to people with disabilities.
The school, built in 1949, was rated as one of the worst schools in the district in a 1999 facilities report and has again been recommended for closure in the audit completed by MGT Consulting Group over the past 18 months.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.