LIMA — A Youngstown-based development company announced Tuesday it has acquired ownership of Clocktower Plaza and has plans to transform the area’s sparsely occupied storefronts into the “premier shopping center for the Lima community.”
Clocktower Plaza LLC, a sister company of CTW Development Corp., acquired the plaza last week, and chose to base its name after the retail center.
“It’s in a great location, it’s got everything going for it, it just needs the attention it deserves,” said Brad Whitman, vice president of Clocktower Plaza LLC and CTW Development Corp. “With a really good tenant mix, it could be a great center for the community.”
Located on North Cable Road, Clocktower Plaza includes nearly 238,000 square feet of retail space. It currently houses local and regional tenants such as Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree, Gamestop and Pet Supplies Plus, but the plaza is only 25 percent occupied. That’s something the development group plans to change.
“Right now we have nine spaces available and two potential outparcels along North Cable Road, so we are actively seeking tenants,” he said. “We’re putting a marketing plan together to send out to bigger retailers, and a lot of the local chains too.”
Whitman said Greg Butcher of Yocum Realty is helping the company find tenants, and is working with them on the plaza’s leasing.
The largest available unit on the property is the old Wal-Mart building, which takes up almost half the plaza’s retail space at 110,000 square feet. Whitman said there is no word yet on which businesses will move into the former Wal-Mart, or any of the other empty storefronts.
While attracting tenants is still a work in progress, Whitman said they will begin making improvements to the plaza in the coming months.
“We’re going to be making some improvements to the parking lot area and we’re going to do some lighting upgrades throughout the entire center, along with some landscaping,” he said. “It’ll be different things we see around the property that we want to make immediate improvements to.”
Chuck Whitman, owner of Clock Tower Plaza LLC and CTW Development Group, said the ultimate goal is to improve and develop the plaza to attract new, strong tenants, and help grow the current customer base.
“We are determined to make Clocktower Plaza the premier shopping center for the Lima community,” he said.
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