Tractor Supply Co. seeks to build new store on Jackson at Baker west of Ann Arbor

The property has Jackson Road frontage at the eastern end of a 49-acre parcel once proposed for a nearly half-million square foot retail center called West Scio Center.

Magellan Properties of Ann Arbor was partnering with the national Regency Centers to develop the property, located just south of where Baker Road ends at Jackson Boulevard, about 1/4-mile from I-94. But that deal, announced in May 2005, fell apart amid the national development slowdown, said Magellan partner John Langs.

"We had high hopes and working with folks like Regency Centers was the real deal," Langs said. "But all the retailers got red-lined out of the state."

Yet the long-term potential for retail development at the location remains strong, Langs said. The highway proximity and large acreage makes it unique in the market, where big-box retailers struggled in the past decade to find suitable locations that complemented existing uses.

"We still think that's a better alternative to the Zeeb Road corridor ... because of the traffic," he said.

Commercial real estate broker Jim Chaconas of Colliers International in Ann Arbor is representing property owner Dimos Panos in the transaction.

Chaconas said the rezoning of the single small section of the property would allow one of the few retailers seeking to build in Michigan to proceed with its new store while preserving the potential to plan a larger project in the remaining acreage as the economy improves.

"It's tucked into the east side of the property, so there's still all the frontage from the (traffic) light to this parcel, preserving flexibility," Chaconas said.

Scio Township Manager Darrel Fecho said the township will hold a public hearing March 8 on the rezoning, which fits the township's master plan for the area.

Tractor Supply Co., based in Brentwood, Tenn., operates 930 stores in 44 states. With revenue of $3.2 billion, the company’s market cap - its worth based on today’s stock price - is $2.04 billion.

Other TSC stores in the region include locations in Saline, Whitmore Lake, Dundee and Howell.

TSC corporate officials did not return a call seeking comment.

Kettler said he's developed other stores for the company and has been pursuing a store west of Ann Arbor.

"We've been looking in the Chelsea/Ann Arbor area for some time," he said.

While declining to discuss specifics of the project, Kettler said he hopes to receive township approvals by July so that the store could open by spring 2011.

According to reports about a store proposal in Wilton, Maine, TSC sought to build a 19,000-square-foot store on 4.4 acres with an adjacent 15,000-square-foot outdoor display area and 95-space parking lot. That store was to employ 12 to 15 people, according to reports.