If there was this much demand in 1996 to check out Sears
Crosstown, it’s hard to imagine the first-floor outlet store
closing.

Whenever I told anyone I planned to tour the Sears
Crosstown building with the local chapter of the Urban Land
Institute (ULI) last week, the response was the same: “I’m jealous. I want to go.”

As large as it looms in Midtown — and it’s the highest
building between downtown and Clark Tower in East Memphis
— the Sears Crosstown building looms just as large in
people’s imaginations. Built in 1927 (additional construction
was done in ’45 and ’67) and housing a 72,000-gallon indoor
water tank in its tower, the Sears distribution center at this location closed in the early ’90s. The outlet store remained open
until 1996, when the entire building was shuttered.

ULI initially planned to take 20 people through the building,
but because of the interest, doubled that number and still
had to turn people away.

“It’s an important landmark in our city,” said ULI tour organizer Les Binkley. “We felt our members, like many folks in
the neighborhood, were curious about the property and would
enjoy taking a rare look inside a building we often see from
afar but never close up.”

Participants were advised to wear sturdy, waterproof shoes
and to bring a flashlight. The tour started on the darkened first
floor through what used to be a coffee shop and the sales floor.
The walls are covered with ceramic white tiles, and plaster has
been ground into the aging carpet. In uncarpeted areas, there
is a steady crunch of light bulbs and other debris underfoot.

The paint is peeling off nearly every surface, including
the mammoth columns that dominate the warehouse space.

Broken and cracked panes dot the windows, and stuff hangs
from hallway ceilings. With their flashlights pointed in front of
them, participants joke that the tour should have been closer
to Halloween.

In many ways, Sears’ presence lingers. Wooden dollies litter
the first floor, while remnants of Sears’ sorting system, including spiral chutes, tubes, and conveyer belts, remain.

The most striking part of the building, however, is the sheer
amount of space.

At 14 stories and 1.4 million square feet, the Sears Crosstown
building is twice as big as Clark Tower. The property can
accommodate parking for 1,500 vehicles.

“It’s a lot different from other buildings this size,” said U of M grad student Ward Kennedy. “Look at its silhouette; it’s just a wall. There’s nothing else this scale nearby.”

After the tour, participants discussed potential uses for the
building.

“It could be an asset in its current form, but it’s a challenge,” Kennedy said. “Given Memphis’ real estate market,
something remarkable would have to happen.”

Attorney Taylor Gray has some experience redeveloping old
buildings.

“I love historic structures, both their intrinsic historical
value and also to see their redevelopment potential,” he said.
“Obviously, the sort system been modernized since it was first
built, but it looked exactly like FedEx’s.”