South Sound Center, the Lacey shopping hub that helped birth the city itself, sold for $43 million on June 12, ending more than 60 years of ownership by the family of developer Bob Blume.

San Diego-based Tourmaline Capital, operating locally as Lacey South Sound LLC, purchased the property from Capital Development Company, according to Thurston County Assessor's Office records confirmed by real property appraiser Lavonne Anundson.

The sale covers most of the shopping center but excludes the Target parcel and the former Sears building at the north end.

City of Lacey spokesperson Donna Feliciano said the city knew the property was for sale but did not know the sale had closed.

The former Sears building is now owned by J&I Power Equipment, which operates locations in Olympia and Yelm. Co-owner Greg Longnecker said the company bought that building in early 2025 but was delayed moving in after At Home, which had signed a lease for the space, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025.

The Lacey location was listed for closure in At Home's court-approved reorganization plan on Oct. 1, 2025.

Longnecker said J&I is now working through permitting with the city of Lacey and expects to move into the former Sears space by the end of 2026.

Tourmaline Capital describes itself as focused on "repositioning and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties in the Western U.S." The firm acquired a similar-sized retail center in Greenwood Village, Colorado, for $40.95 million in January 2026.

Blume, who died in 2007, built South Sound Center in the 1960s after Olympia bankers refused to finance the project. He secured funding in New York City instead. To land Sears as an anchor tenant, he donated a full third of his land to the company.

The shopping center's sales-tax revenue helped drive Lacey's incorporation as a city in 1966, which passed by just 240 votes.

No redevelopment plans or tenant changes have been announced by the new owner.