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Work on the floor is under way at the former Lowe's store at Seaview Square Shopping Center in Ocean Township, a large building that was abandoned by the home-improvement retailer because of safety concerns more than four years ago.
The work is intended to make the 135,000-square-foot building ready for tenants, Mayor William F. Larkin said.
It is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, according to Investcorp's real estate group, based in New York. Investcorp bought the center in 2005 from Starwood Heller.
Prospective tenants have expressed interest in the space.
A representative of Lincoln Equities Group LLC, a Rutherford-based company that manages Seaview Square, could not be reached for comment.
Lowe's abandoned the store in February 2004, 11 months after it opened, because cracks and depressions in the floor raised safety issues. Seaview Square's owners decided to correct the underlying problem and re-lease the space.
The floor was sagging in spots, Larkin said. "For any tenant to come in, they needed to rework the flooring," he said.
Workers are driving pilings into the floor so they can build a new floor on top of it, Larkin said. "All the steps and everything have to be adjusted accordingly," he said. A wall also was removed to allow for construction equipment inside the building.
The work is not the only change coming to Seaview. In February, Value City said it would close its department store here as part of a restructuring of the company.
"We certainly don't like to see those centers unoccupied," Larkin said. "I just hope the Value City store doesn't stay empty for too long."
The former Furniture King store is also vacant. Recently, Michael's opened a store in the former Rag Shops location at the center. Last year, PetSmart also opened a store at the mall.
Source:http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080510/BUSINESS/805100403
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