An out-of-state investor has big plans for one of the largest shopping centers in Denbigh — and he might not be done.

Mark Gold, who recently purchased the Denbigh Village Shopping Center near the intersection of Warwick and Denbigh boulevards, said he plans to transform the 341,000-square-foot retail center into a more modern property full of new shops and restaurants.

“There is no place in the U.S. where you can find a shopping center where 96,000 cars pass daily and there is so much vacancy,” Gold said of Denbigh Village. “This is an opportunity to change this area of Newport News forever.”

The property is now called DW Center. “DW” recognizes the two roads that intersect the property — Denbigh and Warwick boulevards.

Gold and his team purchased the 29-acre site in February for $11 million from DDR Corp., a well-known real estate investment trust with commercial holdings across the country.

Jeremy Foley, director of the Las Vegas Cushman & Wakefield/Commerce division that sold the center to Gold, said certain restrictions set by its former owners made it difficult to lease the development, despite its strategic location at two busy thoroughfares.

“This acquisition will allow the new owner to add new retail and bring more life back into the center,” Foley said. “The investor has a successful track record of buying up properties like this.”

DW Center is anchored by Burlington Coat Factory, JoAnn’s Fabrics and number of small to mid-sized national and local retail tenants.

Plans call for Gold’s firm to pump $16 million into the center’s facade, landscaping and security. Officials also plan to add music to the open-air shopping plaza.

The project is slated to be completed by the third quarter of this year.

“We want to give it more of a European feel,” Gold said. “We’re going to be very hands on with the center’s redevelopment.”

More retail and restaurants are also slated to join the center.

DW Center is about 50 percent leased, Gold said — arguably one of the lowest occupancy rates in the city, but about average for a number of distressed, large shopping centers in Denbigh.

But that doesn’t seem to faze Gold and his team.

Officials with CBRE-Hampton Roads, who have been tapped to lease out the Denbigh area shopping center, are in negotiations with five new restaurants. They also are talking to a 70,000-square-foot retailer that would be new to the market that could make the DW Center a tourist draw, Gold said.

“We plan to bring the shopping center to 90 percent occupancy in the next three to six months from today,” Gold said, remaining mum about the potential new retailer. “I can’t talk much about it at the moment, but it’s going to draw people in 45 minutes to an hour and half away.”

Denbigh has quickly grown into an international enclave in Newport News, where a number of new Korean, Vietnamese, Latin and a few Slavic retailers and restaurants have set up shop over the past few years.

Gold contends he wants to blend more local and national tenants at DW Center — adding that the mix of tenants will make its redevelopment efforts successful.

“I’m pushing for 60 percent national retail and 40 percent mom-and-pop mix,” Gold said. “I like mom-and-pop establishments, and feel they are important to have in this center.”

Gold’s investment follows a wave of redevelopment that is pending in the Denbigh area.

Kroger plans to construct its Marketplace store across Denbigh Boulevard on the site of the now-defunct Big Kmart. Officials with Newport News-based Robert Brown & Associates Inc. recently completed facade improvements to the Denbigh Specialty Shops retail plaza at 14501 Warwick Blvd., which sits nearby.

Gold said he is looking for more investment in the area — adding that his firm is shopping around for 1 million square feet of similar retail opportunities within 10 minutes to an hour and a half of Newport News within the coming months.

“There is a lot of opportunity for growth in a number of markets, and we see Newport News as one of those markets,” Gold said.

By Daily Press @ https://www.dailypress.com/2016/03/22/denbigh-shopping-center-undergoing-16m-renovation/