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

Stein Mart’s existing lease at 6426 South McClintock Dr. was up for renewal, and the chain, which is best described as a hybrid between an upscale department/specialty store and a traditional off-price retailer, decided against renewing. Instead, it chose to move just a few blocks away to the state’s third-busiest intersection, says David Malin, senior project manager for Vestar Development Co., the Phoenix-based developer and owner of Tempe Marketplace.

Located at the Southwest corner of Loops 101 and 202 on McClintock Drive and Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe Marketplace opened in 2007 and receives drive-by traffic of 650,000 cars daily. The project boasts more than 120 retailers, restaurants and entertainment destinations including Target, Best Buy, J.C. Penney and Harkins Theater, the state's number-one performing movie theater.