'Waiting for the next big piece'

The effort to renovate Sunnyland Plaza and attract retailers to the shopping center has begun.

Armed with results of a recent in-depth retail study, Ray Poe of Chicago, who was hired less than two months ago by the plaza’s owner, Neelam Salmen, to serve as her asset manager, said he and Washington officials now have enough information to move forward with beautifying the plaza and attracting retailers.

Results of the $5,700 study, done by Teska Associates of Evanston, show demographics of the shopping center’s potential customers, as well as retailers who could cater to their interests. The original list contained names of about 250 businesses in several different categories, including grocery, apparel, electronics, food, books, coffee, music, sporting goods, party supplies and more.

“The report gave us a nice list of possible retailers,” Poe said. “We’re in the process of sending letters to about 60 names or so, and we’re actively marketing those companies.”

In a separate Teska Associates study, the company presented three scenarios that would revive Sunnyland Plaza. The first involves redeveloping the plaza’s facade and making minor landscaping and signage improvements. The second and third involve demolishing some or all of the existing structures.

“We’re open to doing any of the plans. It’s market driven,” Poe said. “But if you ask me to opine, we will more than likely go with the first plan, leaving the footprints of the buildings as they are, changing the facade and probably putting in more windows where the grocery store used to be.”

Poe said that plan likely would also include removing some of the excess parking spaces and building an unattached store on the northwest corner of the shopping center near Route 8.

Money to make the changes will come from the plaza’s owner, who lives in California. Poe said some financing is in place, but the cost of each scenario has not been determined.

“We need to price it out and see if it’s financially feasible,” Poe said. “In the meantime, we’re going to dress up the property in baby steps.”

Poe said he understands that it is a catch-22 situation. Without new businesses in the plaza, there is a lack of revenue coming in to make the needed changes, but potential retailers may not want to lease space until the plaza is renovated.

“It’s a question of what comes first, the chicken or the egg?” he said.

To address the concerns of interested parties, Poe said there likely will be language written into early contracts promising that improvements to Sunnyland Plaza will happen.

“We’re happy to put it into the terms of lease for a would-be tenant that we will commit to spend the money,” Poe said. “We’re willing to do whatever it takes to get tenants, short of going through with the entire renovation immediately.”

Poe said he is also considering doing a mock-up of one of the existing spaces to show potential retailers what their businesses could look like after the renovation is complete.

He said the first mid-size retailer to sign a contract, such as a grocery store, could dictate how the entire plaza looks. But until someone commits to all or part of that nearly 40,000-square-feet space, it will be difficult to move forward with renovations, Poe said.

“We’re reluctant to spend money on that space until we know how it’s going to be split up,” he said. “Finding a user who will take that whole space, while it’s ideal, is tough to ask, so we’re willing to split it up. Looking for some 10,000-20,000-square-feet users is probably more realistic.”

Retailers that are already located in or near the 12.7-acre plaza include Dollar General, Sunnyland Cinemas, a Mobil gas station, Arby’s, Family Video, Casey’s General Store and Ralph’s Floor Fashions.

The business that used to be the main anchor of the plaza, Sullivan’s grocery store, closed its doors five years ago and left a large void in the shopping center. Poe said if a similar-sized retailer moved into that large space, Sunnyland Plaza would be well on its way to recovery.

“We’re waiting for the next big piece,” he said. “We just don’t know how much the renovation is going to cost, so until we have numbers, we can’t speak to what exactly we’re going to do or how quickly.

“We’re hoping that in the next 60 days we’ll have some numbers. We’d like to get moving as quickly as possible.”