Last night on Mondays With the Mayor, filling in for Mayor Dan Allers, Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt said he had spoken to the owner of the Santini Plaza at length Monday and he’s hopeful that some of the businesses in that plaza would be getting their keys in January.
Every business in Santini Plaza has been closed since Hurricane Ian did substantial damage to the entire plaza 14 months ago. Major repairs needed to be done to the roof, the windows, the doors before any tenants can get keys to go inside their units to start their own repairs. Before the storm, Santini Plaza included several restaurants, a liquor store, a shipping store, retail clothing locations. It was vital to residents on the south end of the island and as those residents get back in their homes and condos they are hopeful businesses in the plaza will open again soon.
We have done several walkarounds through Santini Plaza since the storm. At first it looked like progress was moving along at warp speed. Then it seemed to have stopped completely as the owner of the plaza had to work through issues with lighting and permitting. The most recent issue, according to Atterholt, is with the Fire Department which has questions about the firewalls.
Atterholt is hopeful some of the tenants will get their keys to their units in January but that does not mean they will be able to open the next day. He said the owner of the plaza has hired a real estate broker to work through the details of what he’ll be responsible to rebuild on the inside of the units and what the tenants will have to pay to rebuild. The broker will also work out the details on what the rent will be moving forward.
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