Metropolis mall to get $11M makeover with ‘softer’ focus

A torn up central plaza greets shoppers to Metropolis Lifestyle Center, where an $11 million makeover of the sprawling Plainfield retail center has started.

The City of Plainfield is paying for 40 percent, or $4.5 million, of the renovation, which is largely aesthetic. The work won’t add any space to the 600,000-square-foot center or alter store interiors.

The aim of the renovation is to “soften” public areas at the outdoor center, with most of the work focused on the central plaza.

A redesign by the Dayton, Ohio, design firm Woolpert will bring earthier colors, more landscaping, a gazebo and an improved fountain and lighting to the plaza, said Josh Poag, president and CEO of the center’s new owner, Poag Shopping Centers of Memphis, Tenn.

The original look of the plaza and other outdoor areas was “too harsh,” Poag said, with an over-reliance on concrete, metallic features and severe colors like blue.

The outdoor areas around two mall anchors, Dick’s Sporting Goods and JCPenney, also will be given a friendlier feel with more seating and even a koi pond with a small bridge.

The changes are meant to be more appealing to the center’s core customers, women aged 18 to 50, Poag said.

The work will be done by mid-November, just in time for Christmas shopping.

Poag said the improvements should help boost the 87 percent occupancy of the center, which contains about 44 stores and restaurants. It will be renamed The Shops at Perry Crossing.

It’s the first major investment by Poag Shopping Centers, since it bought the center last year from a court-appointed receiver.

The center near East Main Street (U.S. 40) and Perry Road opened in 2005 at a cost of $160 million. But its developer, Indianapolis-based Premier Properties USA, went defunct in the recession when it couldn’t pay its debts. Premier’s founder, Christopher White, was convicted in 2009 of check fraud, theft and fraud on a financial institution.

Poag said the grant from the town of Plainfield was “vital” to carrying out the renovation and will require his company to meet certain property tax assessment levels.

Poag Shopping Center’s holdings include 12 lifestyle centers. Its only Indiana property is Metropolis.

The developer is considering an expansion to Metropolis by adding a major retailer on the south end, but no active plans are in the works for that, Poag said.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317)444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.