A grocery store is one of the first notable additions shoppers can expect at the Country Club Plaza, and the historic shopping center’s new owner isn’t afraid to name drop.
“You know, Trader Joes, something of that size, 8,000 to 10,000 square-feet,” said Ray Washburne, the president of Dallas-based HP Village Management, the company that acquired the plaza. His remarks garnered an enthusiastic applause from the crowd of about 200 at a Sept. 5 Plaza District Council event that at times felt more like a pep rally for the coming Chiefs-Ravens game than a neighborhood business presentation.
And though bringing the coveted California-based grocery chain to the Plaza, which only has two locations in the metro area, was far from a promise, the crowd of local business owners and tenants was obviously into Washburne’s vision. He received a rousing applause throughout his presentation.
After purchasing the Plaza earlier this summer, HP Village Management’s leadership said it is prepared to spend $100 million in improving the center, which celebrated its 100th birthday last year.
So far, Washburne estimates that he’s quadrupled the security presence in the center – one of the main concerns voiced by shoppers and business owners – at a cost of $500,000. Changes also include the addition of cameras throughout the center and the relocation of the on-site security station from a basement office to the ground level.
Others employed by the management company are making cosmetic repairs and doing some needed cleaning that Washburne said was put off for far too long. “I’m sure you’ve seen that we’ve come in and cleaned the windows. The filth on them was unbelievable,” he said.
When asked about reviving the Plaza’s former cinemas, Washburne said, “the theater business is dead,” but conceded there could be similar entertainment uses in smaller spaces.
As for the grocery store, Washburne sees it on the ground floor of the Plaza’s western edge, where there is a three-acre lot that was prepped for a Nordstrom department store that never materialized. A tower with a hotel, multifamily, or offices, could sit atop the grocer, he said.
Washburne was also met with applause when he floated the idea of putting traffic circles on Broadway Boulevard, 47th Street and possibly others to slow down car traffic and dissuade drag racing.
The Plaza District Council, a nonprofit organization founded by Kate Marshall to represent and collaborate with Plaza district stakeholders, hosted the meeting in the 4740 Grand office building.
Among the elected officials in attendance were Mayor Pro Tem and Councilmember Ryana Parks-Shaw, Councilmember Jonathan Duncan and Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.
