Renovations planned for shopping center
Published 9:53 pm Friday, September 22, 2017
A decades-old shopping center in a busy Suffolk corridor will receive a makeover by new management.
Steve C. Frazier & Co. of Virginia Beach went under contract to purchase Kensington Square Shopping Center from 168 Real Estate Trust in January. The new ownership is planning more than $1 million in renovations for the aging Godwin Boulevard shopping center for current tenants and to attract new ones.
Walls will be repainted, new LED lights will replace broken bulbs in the parking lot, new roofing will be installed and signs will be improved, according to vice president Gaines Frazier. These renovations are expected to be finished by the end of the year, while the parking lot will be resurfaced when the weather heats up in the following spring.
“We’re trying to put a whole new face on this center,” Gaines said.
The shopping center will be the first Suffolk project for the Virginia Beach commercial real estate broker. The property space has 65,000 square feet of space, according to president Steve Frazier, with Food Lion taking 40,000 square feet.
Of the remaining 25,000 square feet, 9,000 is currently available for prospective tenants. An undisclosed restaurant is under contract for 3,000 square feet of retail space.
Steve said there are other potential tenants in the works.
“We feel like the growth in this area of Suffolk is great for tenants to be successful,” he said.
The first CVS Pharmacy in Suffolk held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its location next to the shopping center on Wednesday. Traffic continues to come through this corridor to Sentara Obici Hospital and the numerous businesses that draw customers.
“This is a big deal for us,” Gaines said. “We’re excited to be growing in a place that’s growing.”