The new owner of the Colony Plaza looks forward to more decades showcasing local business.
The plaza has been in business on West Eighth Street near Peninsula Drive since 1953. And in an era of brick-and-mortar chain store closings, it continues to thrive because of its emphasis on local shops, restaurants and services, said Phillip Gesue , owner of Colony Plaza LLC and its parent company, New York-based PE Real Estate Holdings.
“It had owners who ran it and really cared about doing the right thing there,” Gesue said. “The Riehl family hand-curated the shops there and made sure that they were local and had cohesiveness so that each of the individual shops contributed something to the whole.”
Gesue bought the plaza for just over $5 million in August from the Riehl family, which built the plaza and operated it for more than 70 years. Gesue has his own history with the plaza. He grew up in Millcreek’s nearby Glenruadh neighborhood.
‘Fond and positive memories of the plaza’
“I grew up just west of the plaza and spent a lot of time with grandparents and aunts and uncles who also lived in the neighborhood,” Gesue said. “I’ve been there or past it thousands and thousands of times and always had fond and positive memories of the plaza.