New owners plan more improvements to Centennial Mall
By GAYLE WEBER
Since taking ownership a year ago, Tony and Gina Stern have been thinking about ways to improve Centennial Mall.
They started with renovating the interior. Next year, they'll begin work on the exterior. And soon, there could be food available in the mall.
The Sterns, who live in California, own four malls in the United States along with other businesses in Europe. They purchased Centennial Mall in August 2007 because they liked the community.
"A year and a half ago we didn't even know about Hays," Tony Stern said.
One three-month renovation process later and the Sterns are knee-deep in their acquisition.
"There's still a few little things we need to take care of, but it's almost done," Gina Stern said.
The renovations have produced a sitting area near the main entrance to the mall, which Tony Stern said is ideal for husbands to use while their wives shop. The Sterns also would like to implement a food cart on weekends that would offer sandwiches and coffee in order to create a better feeling of home for shoppers.
The exterior renovations will start in the spring.
According to project manager Terry Claycamp, Centennial Mall is "basically 100 percent full." Only one 600-square-foot office space is unoccupied in the 60,000-square-foot mall.
"All the tenants have been here a long time," Gina Stern said. "I'm not sure if there's any more places that we could build on the outside of the mall."
Love it! Looks really good in there now!
(Posted by: Jane P)
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