Sears store in Hicksville will close in early April

The Sears department store in Hicksville will close in early April, and its owner is seeking permission to transform the site into a new complex of nearly 600 apartments, retail stores and 5 acres of green space.

Sears included the Hicksville store and auto center on a list of store closings posted on its website Thursday. The auto center is expected to close by late January, the list shows.

A Sears spokesman said the majority of jobs at the store are part-time, and that workers will receive severance and will be able to apply for jobs at other Sears and Kmart stores. He said the number of jobs affected by the closure is “not available.”

Sears also operates stores in Garden City, Lake Grove, Massapequa, New Hyde Park and Valley Stream. None of those stores is on the list of those slated to close. The Sears in East Northport closed last year.

The owner of the 26-acre site, Seritage Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust and spinoff of Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart stores, said it has submitted plans to the Town of Oyster Bay to build 596 market-rate apartments over retail stores, in buildings ranging from two to four stories. The apartments would be mostly one- and two-bedroom units, though there could be some studios and three-bedrooms, under the proposal. The plan does not call for any apartments to be set aside as affordable.

The redesigned site at 195 N. Broadway would include bike paths and pedestrian walkways, as well as a multilevel parking facility, the Manhattan-based landowner said in a news release.

Seritage said adjacent property will continue to be leased to Chipotle and TD Bank.

The company has been discussing the plans with local residents, civic associations and officials for more than a year.

Hicksville “has been looking to do a downtown revitalization and we think our project helps support that initiative,” James E. Bry, Seritage’s executive vice president for development and construction, said in an interview Thursday. “We’re bringing a new ‘Main Street’ . . . that not only the residents of our project but the community at large can come visit, explore and enjoy.”

The new complex is expected to include 240,000 square feet of retail, including a roughly 28,000-square-foot grocery store, along with a health club, eateries and entertainment, Bry said. No leases have been signed, but the company is in discussions with a movie theater, bowling alley and other potential tenants, he said.

A proposal discussed with residents in mid-2016 called for 350 apartments. Bry said local officials have called the number of apartments in the new proposal “a bit high,” and he said the number could end up being reduced. “There will be a number that economically makes the project viable,” he said.

The company expects to run a morning and evening rush-hour shuttle to the Hicksville Long Island Rail Road station.

Last year, Hicksville received a $10 million grant from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s downtown revitalization program. The Town of Oyster Bay has been holding public meetings and workshops about how to use the funds. Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino has said the final plan will be based on public input.

Town officials could not immediately be reached Thursday afternoon.

Seritage is a publicly traded real estate investment trust with 230 wholly-owned properties and 23 joint venture properties totaling about 40 million square feet of space across 49 states.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott is a reporter on the investigations desk. Since starting at Newsday in 2012, she has also covered real estate and the business of health care.