SAN JOSE >> A former hardware store in San Jose could be transformed into a preschool and fitness center, according to documents on file with city planners.

The proposed businesses would fill a long-shuttered Orchard Supply Hardware store at 5651 Cottle Rd. in south San Jose, city planning records show.

The empty building totals 45,800 square feet and is in an area dotted with single-family homes, apartment complexes and multiple shopping hubs, including retail sites anchored by Safeway and Target.

In 2018, Orchard Supply Hardware ceased operations after its owner, Lowe’s Home Improvement, decided to shut all Orchard Supply stores.

Central Network Retail Group bought leases for seven former Bay Area Orchard Supply sites in 2019 and reopened those locations as Outdoor Supply Hardware.

Many former Orchard Supply Hardware locations, however, such as the one on Cottle Road in San Jose, remained closed for years after the prior shutdowns.

A Goddard Preschool would occupy a big chunk of the Cottle Road building, approximately 21,000 square feet, city planning files show.

“A tenant remodel of approximately 10,000 square feet of an existing building that was previously Orchard Supply for conversion to a Goddard preschool” would be part of the scope of the project, city documents show.

The Goodard Preschool is slated to accommodate 144 children with a staff of 21, according to planning documents.

“The preschool is for children six weeks to six years,” planning files state. “It will be open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and occasionally nights and weekends for events.”

The school operates in 37 states and has 13 locations in California, the Goddard Preschool website states. The school already has a presence in San Ramon and Brentwood.

The proposal also envisions playgrounds with artificial turf and play structures on the old store’s former garden center, an area that totals 11,000 square feet.

The playground would be next to the future preschool, according to a planning application that New Jersey-based A Hinman Construction and Consulting submitted to the Planning Department.

The fitness center would occupy about 24,800 square feet, based on the Hinman calculations and planning documents.

“It’s expected that the rest of the building would be a Planet Fitness gym,” Andrew Hinman, a principal executive with the Hinman consultancy, wrote in a letter to city planners.