WINCHESTER — More information has been disclosed regarding the proposed conversion of the Ward Plaza shopping center into a mix of homes and businesses.

According to documentation shared Tuesday morning with the Winchester Economic Development Authority (EDA), an investment group called Winchester Acquisition Partners LLC is the potential buyer of the 19.6-acre property in the 2400 block of Valley Avenue. Information obtained from the Virginia State Corporation Commission does not include the names of the limited liability company’s members, but its registered agent is John Wesley Gray Jr. of McLean. Details about Gray’s business associations were not available.

Ward Plaza is currently owned by Walter Enterprises LC of Woodstock, a corporation established in 1993 by Richard R. Walter. Walter died on April 17, 2018, and his corporation and ownership of the shopping center passed down to his family.

Ward Plaza, anchored by a popular Montgomery Ward department store, was Winchester’s first shopping center when it opened in 1964. Walter and his wife, Susie Mae Walter, bought the thriving retail destination on April 8, 1985, but the plaza began a prolonged decline in December 2000 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward and Co. went bankrupt and closed its Winchester store. With the exception of automotive repair shops that subsequently moved into Montgomery Ward’s former service garage, the building that comprises approximately one-fourth of the shopping center has remained empty for more than 22 years.

The absence of an anchor store has also made Ward Plaza less appealing to other retail businesses, leaving many of the shopping center’s storefronts vacant for long periods of time.

For two decades, Walter reportedly rejected repeated private offers to buy Ward Plaza. In 2013, city officials issued an economic development report stating “the shopping center is well located but poorly maintained and managed.” In 2020, the Valley Avenue property was highlighted on a map showing the top areas of the city that were prime for redevelopment.

City officials have said the current proposed sale of Ward Plaza has been in the works for months. The deal won’t be finalized until it goes to closing, which EDA Chairman Jeff Buettner said is scheduled to occur on Feb. 28.

“The developer has his equity [and] the financing he needs to close the project,” Buettner said on Tuesday.

A sale price for the 19.6-acre property — assessed by the city at $8,374,000 — has not been publicly disclosed, but the EDA will apply this week for a $4 million loan from Freedom Bank of Virginia in Fairfax to help Winchester Acquisition Partners LLC buy Ward Plaza. The authority would then pay off the loan, most likely within 12 years, using money it will be given on a monthly basis by the limited liability corporation. If Winchester Acquisition Partners defaults, City Council has agreed to cover the debt using tax revenues.

Once Winchester Acquisition Partners buys the property, Buettner said, its site plans and any necessary rezoning applications would be subject to approval by the Winchester Planning Commission and City Council.

If all goes according to plan, Buettner said the demolition of Ward Plaza would begin in November or December. That would provide time for the shopping center’s current tenants to find new locations to lease and for Winchester Acquisition Partners to then build a mixed-use development filled with homes and “a major retail component.”

“To me, the crux of this is the developer getting that partner under contract,” Buettner said.

He would not disclose the names or types of any retail stores being courted by the prospective buyers. When asked specifically if one of them is a grocery store — most of southern Winchester has been designated a “food desert” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture because it is an urban area with no grocery stores within a one-mile radius — Buettner replied, “I cannot say that.”

Attending Tuesday morning’s Winchester Economic Development Authority meeting in Rouss City Hall were Chairman Jeff Buettner and members Sandra Bloom, Cary Craig, Ryan Hall, James Imoh and Kyle Hopkins. Member Addie Lingle listened in by phone but, due to EDA bylaws, was not allowed to cast any votes and was counted as absent. Craig abstained from all votes regarding Ward Plaza due to a potential conflict of interest.