Five years ago or so, Paul Moy probably questioned whether he would have cause to celebrate his restaurant's home.
But through hard work and a big financial commitment from Moy, the once-beaten down Gray Terrace Shopping Centre has been revitalized.
Moy, the owner of the since-renamed Golden Gate Centre — a name that comes from his Chinese restaurant's Golden Gate — will hold a celebration on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 4, to recognize the three new stores that have been added to the center.
"We brought it back to life," Moy said.
Steady decline, then ...
It was a gradual fall for Waukesha's first neighborhood shopping center away from downtown.
Moy said shortly after his restaurant moved to Waukesha from downtown Milwaukee in the 1980s, the center started to suffer as the new shopping malls and centers were built.
By the mid-2000s the center was all but empty.
A few years later, along with the many vacancies at the time, there were 36 leaks in the roof, the parking lot was in shambles, new windows were needed and many of the stores' utilities, including heating and air conditioning and plumbing, needed to be upgraded.
"The shopping center was falling apart," Moy said. "It was pretty rundown."
By that point five years ago, the future of the shopping center didn't look so good. More than four decades after it first opened in the 1400 block of East Racine Avenue, the center was in foreclosure.
Staying put
Only two tenants remained. One of them was Moy's Golden Gate Restaurant, which to that point in time had been at the plaza for almost 30 years under his family's ownership.
Despite its surroundings, the restaurant itself continued to do well, Moy said.
Moy said he looked at a couple other places as possible new locations, but he relented.
"We didn't want to move," Moy said.
Moy did more than remain at the center. He bought it from the bank, paying about $800,000 for the center, which totals about 2,800 square feet of store space on 3.5 acres.
Revitalizing it all
Since then, Moy has put in his own resources to revitalize the entire plaza.
After remodeling the center and addressing its needs, Moy started to bring in new tenants to join his popular Chinese restaurant and JoMar Flowers and Gifts, which has been at the site for 27 years.
The recent tenants included Waukesha Antique Mall, Data Logic Systems, JohnRat Screen Printing and Forever Faded.
Now, the Golden Gate Centre is welcoming in three new businesses — Phoenix Salon, Farmers Insurance and Rejuvenate message therapy.
With these three additions, the center is now at full capacity.
Cause for celebration
To celebrate the newest tenants, and the plaza's revival in general, the center will host a grand opening ceremony and open house from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct 4. A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 12:30 p.m. will include Mayor Shawn Reilly and Sen. Paul Farrow.
The celebration will also feature Chinese lion dancing by ShaoLin Center of Waukesha, plus food and beverages provided by Golden Gate Restaurant.
"It will be a nice celebration," Moy said.