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Plaza To Locate By The Mall

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

The Plaza By The Mall is near completion. It is located behind the Lakeshore Mall in Sebring.

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By Bill Rogers | Highlands Today

Published: November 11, 2007

SEBRING – Lakeshore Mall's name recognition, drawing power and location seem to be benefiting a new plaza in Sebring.

Construction on Plaza By The Mall is nearing completion. The 21,500-square-foot plaza includes two buildings and sits on 2 1/2-acres of land behind Sears.

There are a total of 13 units, ranging from 500 square feet of space to a little more than 2,000 square feet.

"Everyone knows where the mall is," said Norb Walz of Walz Management LLC, which owns the shopping center.

"We're looking at traffic at the mall to be a positive," said Mike Chambers, president of United PC Inc., who is moving his computer sales and service store that is now on U.S. 27 next to Coker Fuel into the plaza. "It will be a better location and easier to find."

A total of 65 percent of the square footage has been leased, according to Doug Walz, president of Walz and Co. of Sebring Inc., the builder for the project.

Walz said there has been a lot of interest without much advertising. He added that he has had people pull in behind him and ask about the project after seeing a sign about it on his vehicle.

"We're thankful how well it has been received," he said.

In addition to United PC, Fitness Together, a one-on-one fitness training center, photography studio and a beauty salon have signed leases. Walz and Co. will be moving its office – which is now just off 27 behind Pool Paradise 1 – into the plaza.

A doctor's office and a restaurant are possibilities. Walz said he is talking to other prospective tenants.

The plaza features a multi-color scheme that includes moss green, golden yellow and desert tan. It has pillars and black awnings on every other unit.

Norb Walz, who is Doug's father, described it as "eclectic with a little bit Southwestern and Mediterranean."

He said the idea for using multiple colors came after he saw a five-story apartment building in Orlando. He said the building's colors intrigued him.

Besides the location, the rental rates appear to be attractive. Norb Walz said the plaza's square footage rate is lower than many properties along U.S. 27.

"It's extemely competitive," Chambers said of the rates.

Walz Management Inc. built Fairmount Cinema Square 1986 and owned the shopping center for 5 years. The company refurbished the Newsom Eye Plaza in Avon Park earlier this year.

A grand opening is planned before the end of the year.

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