TEMPE, AZ-Stein Mart Inc. has signed a 10-year lease for 28,000square feet in Tempe Marketplace to relocate its existing store.The national retailer will backfill a vacant Linens ‘N Things inthe 130-acre, 1.3-million-square-foot project.

Stein Mart’s existing lease at 6426 South McClintock Dr. was upfor renewal, and the chain, which is best described as a hybridbetween an upscale department/specialty store and a traditionaloff-price retailer, decided against renewing. Instead, it chose tomove just a few blocks away to the state’s third-busiestintersection, says David Malin, senior project manager for VestarDevelopment Co., the Phoenix-based developer and owner of TempeMarketplace.

Located at the Southwest corner of Loops 101 and 202 onMcClintock Drive and Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe Marketplace openedin 2007 and receives drive-by traffic of 650,000 cars daily. Theproject boasts more than 120 retailers, restaurants andentertainment destinations including Target, Best Buy, J.C. Penneyand Harkins Theater, the state's number-one performing movietheater.