VENTNOR — New tenants, construction and other offseason development are underway at the Ventnor Plaza, as Starbucks has officially signed a lease for the site.
Acting mayor Lance Landgraf confirmed the coffee chain has a contract for a local store and said construction at the pad site is making progress.
“You can see the development in the parking lot out there. If you drive by you can see that three-foot concrete wall being built. There will be landscape on the street side, and then it’ll be elevated to curb level on the inside of the site to elevate that site,” Landgraf said during a recent commissioners meeting.
Mark Greco, the plaza's developer, said Burger King and another brand to be decided soon are also in the site work stage.
"The city of Ventnor has been absolutely awesome," said Greco, a local resident. "Everyone has been very supportive of our project, and we are going to make Ventnor Plaza a place they can be proud of."
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The multimillion-dollar renovations Greco has planned involve repaving the parking lot, adding ornamental lighting and giving the largely barren property “a touch of green" by improving the landscape and streetscape. Other improvements include installing solar panels and three electronic vehicle charging stations.
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The 15.3-acre plaza at 5100 Wellington Ave. houses an Acme, an AutoZone, Buy Rite Liquor store, Island Gym and other businesses but is more than 40% vacant, Greco said.
Atlantic County tax records show the land and buildings are valued at about $9.5 million.
"Leasing has been brisk, and we expect several of our new tenants to be open for the coming summer season, but others won't be ready that fast," Greco said.
Greco said new tenant fit-out construction was happening in several stores. Caring Inc, PJ Buckets, the relocation of H&R Block and expansion of the Smokin Aces smoke shop, along with two other spaces, are in architectural drawing stages. Construction is set to start soon.
Provenza Restaurant and Event Center, Pickle Juice indoor pickleball courts and Little Sprouts Childcare are also under construction, he said.
"So that's exciting. It's going to be a great asset. It's always been a great property," Commissioner Tim Kriebel said.
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Kriebel said he thought Greco was the right person for the plaza redevelopment, noting what he called "great improvements" such as plans to improve streetscaping.
Greco said lighting and landscaping improvements along Wellington Ave will start shortly.
Sign renovations for the shopping center were also moving along, said Greco. The stonework is completed, the LED message board has been installed and work on one of the new entrances to the plaza, near Dollar General has started.
Greco said there were no liquor licenses available in Ventnor, so any new restaurants will not have a license. Ventnor only has three liquor licenses, a number determined under state law by a municipality's population.
Greco said as for timing, he couldn't really give an exact date for completion since he's still awaiting certain permits and approvals by the city and county.
"We are trying our best, but we want everything to not only be fast, but we want it to be done right, so detail is important," Greco said.
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