A real estate professional confirmed that a group of Kansas City-area investors is the buyer of Lawrence’s Pine Ridge Plaza, and the new owners already are making plans should the shopping center’s biggest tenant go out of business.

Pine Ridge Plaza LLC intends to close July 15 on its $13.85 million purchase of the center southeast of 31st and Iowa streets, said Jodi Belpedio, a real estate broker for Rubenstein Real Estate Co.

Belpedio said that Shawnee-based Rubenstein was representing the investors, which she described as “primarily one family” from the Kansas City area. She declined to release the names of the investors.

Kmart, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, operates a 106,000-square-foot store at the center.

“We want to keep it the way it is, as long as Kmart’s in existence,” she said. “But they might go away. If they go away, you still have to have good real estate.”

Looking for deals, Belpedio said, Rubenstein spent recent months evaluating all Kmart centers in the Kansas City area before agreeing to buy the Lawrence center from Malan Realty Investors Inc.

The 31.5-acre site, with 250,500 square feet of leasable space, simply was too good to pass up.

“We love Lawrence,” she said. “We think this is the retail corridor, and we’re looking forward to being a long-term landlord in the area. We think it’s a beautiful center.”

Belpedio said she already had contacted representatives from Home Depot about a possible store in Pine Ridge, in case Kmart moved to terminate its lease, which expires in 2018.

A competing development group already has announced plans for a new Home Depot store across 31st Street from Pine Ridge.

Other national retailers also could be in the mix for Kmart’s space should it be vacated, she said, including Lowe’s, Sam’s Club or Costco. The building also could be split up and occupied by Bed, Bath and Beyond, Borders, Barnes and Noble or the like.

Pine Ridge Plaza already is home to Kohl’s, Old Navy, Famous Footwear and a handful of smaller retailers.