The Plaza del Mar owners hope to turn the area into Manalapan’s ‘downtown,’ with regular community events. Photo provided by Katz and Associates
By Larry Barszewski
When it comes to downtowns, Boca Raton has Mizner Park and Delray Beach has Atlantic Avenue.
But downtown Manalapan? Where’s that?
Could it be Plaza del Mar?
The owners of the plaza, the town’s only shopping center, think so. They’ve adopted the downtown title and have high expectations for the plaza they purchased in December.
“This is essentially your downtown,” Scott Loventhal, the managing member for the new owners, told town commissioners at their March 11 meeting. Loventhal was in town to introduce himself to commissioners and brief them on plans for the center at the southwest corner of State Road A1A and Ocean Avenue. His company, Manalapan Plaza del Mar LLC, is a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Garden Commercial Properties, which has 70 years of experience in retail plazas.
“We are all about our local connection,” said Loventhal, whose New Jersey roots showed through as he pledged to work with the “township commission” and “township professionals” on any future improvements to the center.
While the company’s short-term goals are to lease vacant storefronts and bring the center more into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Loventhal said he would also like to see the plaza become a place for community activities.
“What we also found looking at Plaza del Mar is that there isn’t that interaction with the community as it relates to what is your Main and Main, your downtown,” Loventhal said. “What is a downtown all about? A downtown is all about where residents can also gather and see one another.”
One downtown idea is already being considered.
“I think that our goal would be to try to put something on the calendar to create a fall festival this year,” he said.
Commissioner David Knobel gave him a suggestion for another event: “We have some interesting cars in garages in this town, too.”
Loventhal replied that having a car show “is really a wonderful thing.”
“I can only imagine,” he added, mulling over the possible entries from town residents. “I’d like to come visit on the car show day because there have been some interesting cars shopping at Publix, as I’ve noticed in my visits. Some cars I’d never seen before.”
The company’s first priority, though, is to fill the vacant storefronts. A woman’s clothing boutique now based in New Jersey, Addicted Chic, will be opening in June. It was signed by the previous owners.
The plaza will be patient, Loventhal said, making sure the additions contribute to the overall mix and “what we hope will be some experiential retail, what we hope will be personal services.”
At the same time, the company will be creating an accessibility plan.
“The center is not fully ADA compliant,” Loventhal said. “We always feel it’s important in our shopping centers [to be accessible], especially in Southeast Florida where there are certainly residents that need to take advantage of those ADA improvements.”
But there are no plans for major changes at the plaza and Loventhal said the company will respect the existing leases.
“For what it is, and that is a Publix-anchored community strip center, it’s incredible to see the number of tenants that are there 20 to 30 years,” he said. “What does that say to you? They’ve done well, despite what pre-COVID was essentially a seasonal location.”
Publix will have a say in how the center is used for special events, since its lease gives it control over a large part of the parking lot, Loventhal said. While there is probably enough space to hold events outside of the Publix spaces, he said he would meet with store officials to see what else might be possible.
In case he forgot he was in Manalapan, Loventhal was quickly reminded of that point when he talked about eventual plans to improve the signage at the plaza. He said the current signs “don’t really give the tenants the visibility that’s needed to improve their sales.”
When he added “there are no restrictions” about signage, Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti jumped in to say yes there are. Any changes that did not meet the town’s current standards would have to be approved by the commission, he was told.
Loventhal summed up his company’s desires this way:
“We want to make Plaza del Mar better than it is today and improve upon what we think can be a much more vibrant downtown.”
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