Burlington Coat Factory is shrinking its footprint on S. Plano Road in Richardson, cutting its 74,000-square-foot store in half to make room for a new tenant that could bring a movie theater, bowling alley, or fitness center to the long-standing retail site. The Richardson City Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the rezoning request during its meeting last Thursday.
The property owners, represented by Maxwell Fisher of ZoneDev, requested the rezoning to allow additional uses in the vacant half of the building once Burlington downsizes, according to Community Impact. Fisher told commissioners the property is under-utilized, and while he said a fitness center is the most likely new tenant, the approved zoning amendment casts a much wider net. The building sits within what was once the Richardson Square Mall complex, where Sears operated a department store from March 1974 until it closed in March 2019, according to the Malls and Retail Wiki.
What Could Move Into the Other Half
The rezoning amendment explicitly permits nine destination-style uses for the newly vacant space, including a movie theater, bowling alley, martial arts school, fine arts studio, print shop, veterinary office, health club, and pet sales and grooming business, per the outlet's report. At the same time, the amendment bars five higher-intensity uses meant to address neighborhood concerns: a convenience store, child-care center, car wash, motor vehicle repair or service shop, and smoking establishment.
That balance — opening the door to entertainment and fitness tenants while shutting out heavier traffic generators — reflects concessions worked out during the review process, the report notes. Richardson Senior Planner Derica Peters presented the site plan to commissioners, outlining a list of physical upgrades required as part of the deal. Those include four new landscape islands with canopy trees and an additional lighting fixture on the property.
Property Owners Pledge Visible Upgrades
Beyond landscaping, the property owners plan to repaint the building, complete roof work, and add architectural elements to the entrance, addressing what the site plan describes as a lack of visibility along the corridor. Fisher, who serves as founder and principal consultant at ZoneDev, is an AICP-certified planner who spent four years on the Garland Plan Commission and previously worked as a municipal planner in both Garland and Galveston.
Commissioner Kristen Schascheck welcomed the proposed revitalization during the hearing, according to the same account. The rezoning request now heads to the Richardson City Council, which will consider the case at a later date before it becomes final.
Part of a Bigger Corporate and Local Shift
Burlington's move to halve its Richardson footprint fits into the retailer's broader Burlington 2.0 strategy, which favors smaller-format stores of roughly 18,000 to 30,000 square feet over the company's older, oversized layouts, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. The strategy has paid off financially: sales per selling square foot across Burlington's store network climbed 55%, from about $220 in 2019 to roughly $350 in 2026, per TradingView.
The Richardson project also echoes a pattern already playing out just down the corridor. Hoodline previously reported on the former Sears building at 201 S. Plano Road, which is being redeveloped into an open-air retail hub anchored by Japanese grocer AEON and a central food hall slated to open this year. Both projects illustrate how Richardson's aging big-box spaces along S. Plano Road are being carved up into multi-tenant destinations rather than replaced outright.
The rezoning also arrives as Richardson officials pursue a much larger overhaul of the city's development rules. In May, the city kicked off a yearlong effort to rewrite its comprehensive development and zoning regulations, a process that will require additional public hearings before both the Plan Commission and City Council, according to Community Impact. The seven-member commission, which includes two alternates appointed by the City Council, is tasked with reviewing land-use applications like Burlington's before they reach the council for final action.
