About a year after a first meeting with Washington Mayor Gary Manier, Dave Paskert finally announced Monday night at the city council meeting, his plans to purchase and revitalize the Sunnyland Plaza.
Paskert, of Chase Real Estate Group, has managed the plaza for the out-of-state owner for four years and recently formed the new company P-Six Sunnyland in order to purchase the 12-and-a-half-acre plaza.
Paskert’s plans to revitalize the plaza and attract new businesses hinge on the reconfiguration of the 39,000 square feet left empty after Sullivan’s Food went out of business in 2004.
According to Paskert, many small businesses in the 1,000 to 4,000 square-foot range have expressed interest in coming to the plaza but the problem is that the space is designed for a large grocery store.
In recent surveys, many residents said they would like to see the grocery store replaced.
“As a resident of the area, I certainly understand the desire to have a grocery store in the plaza. ... However, I have personally contacted almost every grocery chain in the country, and the Sunnyland area did not interest any of them.
“Most retailers have a formula that they use when searching for new space. They may require a certain population within 3 miles or 5 miles, they may require a certain income level, they may need certain traffic counts. If you do not meet their criteria, the conversation ends there,” said Rob Kirkpatrick, a commercial director-agent at Chase Real Estate Group.
Instead, P-Six will demolish about two thirds of the former grocery store in order to have two separate 20-square-foot buildings with more parking in between.
The plaza is currently 51 percent occupied by existing tenants Sunnyland 10 Cinemas, Dollar General and other small tenants.
City administrator Bob Morris said long-term lease extensions with Sunnyland Cinemas and Dollar General have been secured.
Paskert said he hopes to close on the property in early July and will start construction soon after.
Other planned improvements include repairing the parking lot, new signage, a new facade for buildings and addressing parking lot and exterior building lighting.
According to a press release from Morris, in order to facilitate the project, Washington is proposing to extend redevelopment incentives to P-Six similar to those offered in its downtown TIF district.
The city will reimburse P-Six 20 percent of its actual redevelopment costs, but only if there are corresponding increases in sales tax revenues generated from Sunnyland Plaza businesses.
The plaza, located at the intersection of Washington Road/Route 8 and Summit Drive, will also benefit from the Route 8 expansion from two to five lanes, Paskert said.
“I can tell you we’re so excited about this. I think all of us who have been seated here for a while have heard from a large portion of the city. This has been an eyesore for a long time,” Manier said at the meeting Monday night.
The council will vote on the agreement at its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 21 in the library meeting room at Five Points.
