Sears demolition expected in the next few weeks

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – On Monday, we told you about some possible demolition of the Sears building at the Panama City mall. Workers were seen taking down the awnings over one of the store entrances.

Seritage SRC Finance took over Sears after the retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2018. That was just a few days after Hurricane Michael destroyed the mall.

Since then, nothing has happened.

City officials said Seritage is staging equipment to demolish both the main Sears building and the detached automotive center, once they get the proper city permits.

“When you have four different owners as well as the city that’s going to be taking through eminent domain and purchasing some of the property around the building for the expansion of traffic and raised roadways and flyovers. You know, I think the real long-term status and path forward for that property is really unknown at this time,” City manager Jonathan Hayes said.

Hayes said he expects the demolition to begin in the next few days and the Sears properties to be gone in the next couple of weeks.

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