Work begins on an old Villa Heights electronics repair shop to make way for offices and restaurants

The property at 2501 The Plaza, built in 1949, has been home to an assortment of local businesses, including an electronics repair store called Carphonics Sight & Sound, Lulu’s Seafood Mart, and Headquarters Barbershop.

LPA Urban, a boutique arm of Lat Purser & Associates, bought the site in early 2019 for $1.39 million, county property records show. The local firm will begin turning spaces over to tenants in about eight months, Mark Miller of LPA Urban says.

Here are some details about the adaptive reuse project:

• It is about 40 percent pre-leased so far. Most tenants are medical, Miller says.
• LPA Urban is currently negotiating a lease with a restaurant.
• It is two stories.
• The building can be divided up into as many as 10 spaces.
• Also behind the project are FMK Architects, Isaacs Engineering, and Concorde Construction Company.

Why it matters: An overhaul of the Carphonics building comes amid other significant changes along The Plaza. Next door, Central Living by David Weekley Homes is behind a new community that has townhomes and single-family homes.

A number of beloved businesses have been relocating to The Plaza, too. Mattie’s Diner will open across from Food Lion in the former Tire Depot spot, for instance. Next month, the Plaza Midwood boutique Boris + Natasha is moving to a new spot on The Plaza next to Tip Top Market.

“Between ours and the townhomes, Duncan Avenue is going to look really good. This little pocket is going to be an exciting stretch,” Miller says.

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