The Oaks retail center on the eastern outskirts of downtown Saline soon will have a new tenant.

An ACE Hardware store is scheduled to move in this fall, becoming the largest tenant in the 53,000-square-foot retail center, located on East Michigan Avenue, across from the former Visteon plant, between Industrial Drive and N. Maple Road.

The Oaks has been slow to fill since construction was completed in 2007. Construction of the high-end retail center began before the real estate market turned south, said Bill Kinley, local developer whose Phoenix Company built the mall.

Kinley, also one of the owners of The Oaks, said the space ACE will occupy has been vacant since the center was completed.

“It’s been a function of the economy,” Kinley said. “There aren’t too many places that are expanding or adding new locations. We had just finished constructing the shell when the economy slowed up. But it’s a nice looking mall with high quality finishes and nice architectural design.”

ACE, he said, will be a good compliment to the mix and is expected to draw steady traffic to the center. Saline saw a housing construction boom in the 1990s and early 2000s, creating a solid customer base for a home and garden store like ACE, he said.

Jim Junga, a Saline resident, will open the new ACE. He recently signed the lease under his business name of BZNDS Enterprise and said he would reserve comment until the store is closer to opening day.

ACE retailers around the globe have more than $13 billion in annual sales. There are more than 4,800 locations and ACE carries more than 10,000 proprietary labels.

While there is an ACO Hardware also on East Michigan Avenue in Saline, it is not affiliated with the ACE Hardware brand. There are three other ACE Hardware stores in Washtenaw County: Two ACE Barnes stores in Ann Arbor and a Hackney ACE in Dexter.

The Saline ACE store, scheduled to open in late September or early October, will be 10,500 square feet. Currently, Powerhouse Gym Fitness Center, with 10,000 square-feet, is the largest tenant at The Oaks.

While Kinley would not comment on terms of the ACE lease, the rental rate for the center is listed as starting at $12 PSF. Kinley said The Oaks still has 22,000 square-feet available for lease.