Camden to consider eminent domain for Sears building

The Camden City Council moved a step further last night to take a long-disputed property, the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. store on Admiral Wilson Boulevard, through eminent domain.

Campbell Soup Co. wants to purchase and demolish the historic structure as part of a $90 million headquarters expansion and office development project, but negotiations between Campbell and the owner of the building, retailer Ilan Zaken, have ended.

In a back-and-forth exchange with Councilwoman Dana Redd last night, Zaken attorney Jim Maley said Zaken had done improvements on the building and had specific plans on how to use the structure, which he would not specify.

Later, he said the building would be used as a data center for computers, and he said Camden was wrong to pursue eminent domain against Zaken without even contacting him to find out what his plans are.

But Redd and other council members said that the Sears building had been largely vacant for about five years, and they questioned Zaken's desire to rehabilitate the building after he tried to sell it to Campbell earlier this year.

Council voted unanimously, with one abstention, to recommend that the city planning board now review possible eminent domain proceedings.