Liberty reveals new plan for The Plaza

Liberty University has drawn up a conceptual master plan for the ongoing revitalization of The Plaza.

No immediate project announcements accompany the new vision for the 42-acre midtown shopping center, although representatives say they continue to actively market the site and remain optimistic about its future.

The master plan submitted to the city calls for changing the site’s name to the Pittman City Centre — a throwback to its glory days as Pittman Plaza.

Lee Beaumont, LU’s director of auxiliary services, said they were going a bit “nostalgic” by restoring the “Pittman,” but they also wanted to reflect the new course the property is on, hence the “City Centre” finish.

“We wanted to bring something new to it that says this is no longer a dilapidated mall, this is a vibrant shopping center,” he said.

LU estimates it has spent $1 million on renovations since The Plaza was gifted to it in 2007. Officials hope to revitalize the fading shopping center and have been aggressively recruiting new occupants.

Two new anchor tenants were introduced earlier this year: the Super Dollar Discount Foods and Centra’s Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency Program.

Those respective openings were seen as the beginning of the revived Plaza. The grocery store, which opened in late April and also brought in gas pumps, was considered particularly crucial to increasing foot traffic.

Chris Doyle, The Plaza’s real estate agent, said the store has exceeded expectations on that point.

“I’m extremely pleased with the numbers the grocery store is doing,” Doyle, a vice president with CB Richard Ellis, said. “We’ve seen more activity in the last 60 days than in the first half of the year before.”

The current economic climate has made it difficult to recruit new retail stores, Doyle added, but The Plaza continues to draw healthy interest from office tenants. Representatives are also giving heavy focus to attracting new restaurants.

“Restaurants are our big push right now,” he said, noting the large number of homes and businesses surrounding the center. “I think there’s a lot of lunch and dinner business we could accommodate.”

The master plan was submitted to the city last month and is awaiting staff approval. Because the design only calls for by-right uses of the property, it will not require public hearings or a vote of City Council.

The plan suggests as many as four new buildings could be added to The Plaza, although no definite construction schedule exists.

One building would replace an empty, dilapidated movie theater directly across from the new grocery store on the center’s upper level. That building, long vacant, has been deemed beyond repair.

Those plans would not affect the active Carmike Cinemas on the lower level. Carmike has three years left on its lease and LU does not intend to ask it to leave, officials said. Should the theater opt to leave on its own, officials might consider turning the place into office space.

Doyle said there are no plans to begin any construction at this time. Future expansion will depend on the interest shown by tenants, he said.

“It’s a really tough economic environment right now,” he noted. “… It just depends on who has the financial wherewithal and business plan to move forward.”