Ezell’s among tenants coming to Center Plaza in Federal Way

After the fire, Center Plaza announces incoming businesses that will lease completed building.

Center Plaza announced the new tenants that will lease the re-constructed building on 320th Street and Pete von Reichbauer Way South in Federal Way after a fire ravaged the building last May.

The blaze destroyed nine businesses leasing the building, including Total Vape, Subwau and MOA Hair Studio.

Center Plaza’s owner, Mark McDonald, has been working on finding new tenants for the grand re-opening since very few of the former tenants plan on returning after construction. Now, McDonald is ready to announce what new businesses Federal Way will see downtown.

According to the property manager Joanna Barnhart, there are four confirmed businesses, with a few others in the works. The confirmed businesses are Emerald City Smoothies, a return business, as well as Ezell’s, Sound Credit Union Relocation, and a hot pot concept restaurant, Hot Pot World Rotary #2, which serves customizable Asian-style soups. Barnhart says the soups are Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese based.

The remaining businesses have not been named yet.

The businesses are set to open in February or March 2019, Barnhart said.

They are most excited for the unique tenant mix, she said.

“I love the idea of having all of the locally started, successful, nationally known restaurants all in one center,” she said.

McDonald bought Center Plaza in 2015 for $14.2 million, a move that supported revitalizing Federal Way’s downtown.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined, however, investigators found the fire most likely originated in the former 2NE Pho restaurant. At the time, the building did not have a fire alarm or a sprinkler system in place.

The re-constructed Center Plaza building will have a full sprinkler system.