Old Navy releases opening date for Sterling store; another mall store moving to Sterling Crossing

STERLING – More store openings are coming soon to the new Sterling Crossing in the Lincolnway business corridor.

Old Navy will open Nov. 18, a week from Saturday, the company said in an email Thursday.

In addition, Bath & Body Works will move from its spot across the street in Northland Mall to the Crossing in January, site developer Chris Williams said Friday.

Old Navy is one of five national chains that have or soon will open in the redeveloped Kmart building at 2901 E. Lincolnway.

Shoe Sensation, which has a store up the road in the Pine Tree Plaza at 4311 E. Lincolnway, is opening there Nov. 16 if setup goes as planned.

Maurices is moving to Sterling Crossing in January, Williams said.

Five Below opened Sept. 29, and Marshalls opened Nov. 2.

Old Navy typically hires 30 to 40 workers and still has openings in the Sterling store, the company said.

There′s also a 15,000-square-foot space available between Old Navy and Shoe Sensation, as well as outlot spaces that will be built to tenants’ specifications once a lease is signed, Williams said.

The Sterling VA Outpatient Clinic was the first tenant at the Crossing. It opened Jan 10, 2022, in the east end of the main building,

The clinic, part of the VA Iowa City Healthcare System, moved from 406 Ave. C downtown into 17,600 square feet of leased space, almost doubling its size and allowing it to add more services.

Williams, owner of Highlands Development LLC of Kansas City, Missouri, bought the Kmart property in 2020 for $1 million and made his planned $14 million redevelopment of the 100,000-square-foot site contingent upon the city providing economic development incentives, which the City Council approved in November 2021.

Kmart operated there for 41 years from July 1973 to January 2014.

Sterling Crossings is part of a resurgence in national retailers to the town after a depressing run of closures in the past decade.

Among them: Pet Supplies Plus left Northland Mall in June 2014; Staples, 4311 Lincolnway, closed in August 2015; JCPenney in Northland Mall closed in July 2017; the Sears Hometown Store at 3606 E. Lincolnway closed in July 2018; and Bergner’s left the mall the following month after its parent company, the Bon-Ton Stores Inc., filed for bankruptcy.

In new development news, Planet Fitness opened in the Pet Supplies Plus spot in late 2016, Harbor Freight opened in the former Staples location in June 2022, Illinois Furniture and More opened in JCPenney’s anchor spot on the east end of the mall about a year ago; and Hobby Lobby opened Aug 7. in the Bergner’s anchor spot at the west end.

Dunham Sports opened Oct, 24, 2014, as the third anchor store in several spaces in the middle of the mall, remodeled to make room for the store. The store had to close for repairs eight months later when a storm damaged the roof and walls; it reopened Aug. 7, 2016.

To lease a spot

Those interested in leasing space at Sterling Crossing can reach Highlands Development owner Chris Williams at 913-372-7270 or Chris@Highlandskc.com.