HOLYOKE — What has been known as the Kmart Plaza for about eight decades is on track to become the Walmart Plaza.
Earlier this week, Dallas-based developer Cypress Acquisitions expressed its plans to city officials to build a Walmart at 2201 Northampton St., where a long-vacant and deteriorating Kmart has stood since the 1960s. The property was acquired in June for $6.1 million.
Official paperwork has not been filed yet, said Director of Planning & Economic Development Eric Nakajima, noting that official plans are expected to be filed next month. He said there is no doubt the property will be a Walmart Supercenter, featuring a department store with a grocery supermarket.
“That is clear,” Nakajima said.
Plans are on track for the demolition of the Kmart Plaza, which has sat vacant since 2020. Demolition is slated to begin sometime this fall and be completed by early next year, Nakajima said.
Current plans include tearing down everything to the right of Holyoke Liquor Mart and repaving what is now a pothole-ridden parking lot. Nakajima also confirmed that the Stop & Shop located in the plaza is a separate property and will remain standing.
The project will eventually come before the Planning Board for site plan review, although not at its next meeting.
The demolition plans were filed by Cypress Acquisitions, which is affiliated with Cypress Equities, a Dallas-based commercial real estate developer and investment company with billions of dollars in projects nationwide, focused on retail, mixed-use, residential and hospitality developments. The developers could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The project will bring jobs, increased tax revenue and a brand-new building into the city, all things worth celebrating, Nakajima said.
“What it does tell you is that Holyoke is a good place to do business, to live and work,” he said.
Even after the department store’s closing in 2020, the plaza is still colloquially referred to as the Kmart Plaza, traditionally serving as an anchor at the far right of the strip mall that also includes a Stop & Shop and Ocean State Job Lots. The store also had the distinction of being the largest Kmart retail store in the country after its construction.
The plaza parking lot is also where parade floats gather for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Nakajima said developers have already spoken with parade officials to ensure there are no interruptions to parade festivities during construction.
Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia expressed excitement about the plans on Facebook and said more details will come.
“For years, people in Holyoke have driven by the old Kmart Plaza and asked the same question… When is something finally going to happen here?” he wrote. “That frustration was real and understandable. This was once a busy retail destination, and watching such a large property sit vacant and underutilized for years was disappointing for residents, businesses, and the entire community.”
Kmart retail stores have entirely vanished in the continental United States. The department store chain, which once operated around 2,300 locations in the early 1990s, shuttered its last full-sized location in Bridgehampton, New York in 2024, Fox Business reported.
