Answer Man: Plaza Towers is now advertising “New Restaurant Coming Soon.” I haven't heard any updates on Plaza Towers renovation in some time. I guess they must be finished if they are advertising a new restaurant. Can you check into this and give us an update?
— Edward Smith of Springfield
First of all Ed, I should acknowledge that after you sent me this question the Springfield Business Journal ran a Feb. 16 story on what's happening at Plaza Towers.
Which is fine, but all I can say, Ed, is that I better not find out you asked them first!
Here's what owner Marco Denis, 48, told me about projected opening dates.
The new restaurant you referred to is on the first floor. It has 7,500 square feet. Denis says it will open before the end of 2024.
Denis tells me his plans — and the cost for his plans — have been steadily expanding and growing. As a result, he says, he's become a little leery of proclaiming expected completion dates that he subsequently has been unable to meet.
He tells me the renovation and expansion of Plaza Towers is now expected to cost over $7 million.
By the way, have you ever wondered why it's “Plaza Towers” (plural) when it's actually only one tower? I explored this in a Springfield News-Leader Answer Man column in August of 2015. Sadly, I didn't know then and I don't know now. The reason, apparently, is lost to history.
But I digress.
He owns property on other side of Glenstone, too
Denis, a native of Haiti, says that in September 2020, he bought the 10-story Plaza Towers for $13.3 million as well as the strip shopping center directly to the south (where Jersey Mike's Subs is), and Jimm's Steakhouse and Pub.
And here's something I didn't know — Denis also purchased 80 percent of the Plaza Shopping Center properties on the east side of Glenstone Avenue.
I ask him: You mean like where the old Tower Theater is?
Yes, he says. “I own that building.”
The Tower Theater opened in 1947. Its major claim to fame, at the time, was that it had air conditioning. I wrote about its history in a March 2, 2021 Answer Man column in the Springfield News-Leader.
But I digress. Again.
Denis says he paid about $25 million for all of that property — pretty much both sides of Glenstone, south of Sunshine.
“I just gave you something nobody has,” he tells me.
“Thank you.”
When will the new event center open?
Next question: When will the new Sunshine Event Center open? The center was added during the renovation.
Denis tells me he is ready to take reservations now for dates starting April 1. The number is (417) 883-7424.
The Sunshine Event Center has about 5,000 square feet and seats 165 people. It's on the third floor of Plaza Towers.
How do you get to the third-floor center from outside the building?
You walk into the first-floor entrance of the new restaurant — which won't open for business until later in 2024 — and there is an elevator that goes to the third floor.
Once people reach the third floor, there are options. One is the event center and the other is the new outdoor bar and patio called C'est La Vie (French for “such is life.”)
It's 2,300 square feet and overlooks the Ozarks beauty of Glenstone Avenue and Sunshine Street. On a clear day, I'm sure, you will be able to see the Rumors Cabaret adult entertainment club.
‘Rooftop bar' not actually on rooftop of tower(s?)
Denis refers to this outdoor patio as the “rooftop bar.”
To be clear, it's outside on the third floor. It's not on the highest rooftop, the 10th floor, where there's a gargantuan digital billboard visible from Neptune displaying the wisdom and visage of Lawyer/Doctor Brad Bradshaw, who has been a tenant in Plaza Towers since 1999.
It was only after Denis purchased the building that he realized Springfield city ordinance states only tenants can advertise on the top of his building.
The third-floor “rooftop bar” should open in March or April, he says.
Denis is firm on the name “C'est La Vie” for the patio/bar. He has a name in mind for the restaurant, but will not reveal it because he just might decide on something else.
A new coffee shop, too
There's also going to be a new coffee shop on the first floor facing north. It will have 2,600 square feet that includes about 1,000 square feet outdoors.
Denis is deliberately vague on this opening date, too. It should debut sometime this year. It will be called Smooth Coffee, he says — unless he changes his mind.
Now, let's go back to the yet-to-be-officially-named restaurant. The Springfield Business Journal stated that the menu will feature American, French and Caribbean cuisines.
I have no reason to doubt this but I feel it's part of my job to ask, before I repeat the information: Is that correct?
Yes, he says.
Then, for some reason — as I'm thinking this through in my mind — I wonder if Denis has ever been a chef. After all, he's planning for a restaurant tenant and constructing a menu, right?
But my question doesn't match my thought process and I ask, instead: “Do you cook?”
“Yes, but not for you, Steve,” he says.
“I mean, like, you know, have you ever been a chef?”
“No, I'm just a business man.”
“What about a hamburger?” I ask.
He says he'll think about it.
This is Answer Man column No. 65.
What else is new at Plaza