Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Property owners hit by blast vow to rebuild
PLANTATION — A month after a massive gas explosion rocked a Plantation shopping center and injured 22 people, a real estate firm vowed Monday to reopen for business as soon as possible.
Edens, a national real estate operation operating more than 120 retail centers nationwide, said an outpouring of community support came in the aftermath of the blast.
The explosion “reaffirmed what we’ve always known about Plantation, that its people band together to support each other when it is needed most,” said Nicole Sherman, a vice president at Edens.
Joseph Edens, a South Carolina business man, founded the company in 1966, according to the company website. There are six
regional headquarters based in locales such as Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
The company owns Market On University, where the explosion happened July 6, damaging multiple buildings on the property, including an L.A. Fitness and Zona Fresca. It forced many to shut down indefinitely.
A timeline for when the center would resume operations remains up in the air, while authorities keep trying to figure out everything they can about what caused the blast. On Friday, state officials released a report that revealed the blast was caused by a gas valve that was turned on shortly after 7 a.m. that day.
The valve was located at a building formerly occupied by Pizzafire, a tenant that left the property in December 2018. How that valve was opened remains unclear.
Edens said it has been working with building officials and structural engineers to develop recovery plans and secure the site for any potential severe weather during hurricane season.
Out of the 25 tenants operating on the property before the explosion, only eight have been able to continue operating since July 6.
A Korean martial arts studio, a craft yogurt shop, and a children’s coding center are among the 17 tenants that have been shuttered to the public.
It is unclear whether the same tenants will return once all the storefronts are fully repaired. According to representatives from Edens, discussions with retail partners who were forced to close are still ongoing.
However, Oscar de Armas, president and CEO of Zona Fresca, a restaurant chain serving up Mexican cuisine, said he would be happy to see the location at Market on University return. “While we know it is going to take time to recover, we are excited to hear that plans for rebuilding are underway,” de Armas said in a statement. “We look forward to getting back to business and serving the people of Plantation.”