Palm Beach Plaza is under new ownership and community feedback is being sought to determine plans for the complex's future.

Nelson-based specialist shopping centre investor Tinline Properties purchased the complex for a confidential price and will take over in early April.

Nelson-based company Tinline has purchased Palm Beach Plaza in Papamoa.

Tinline also owns Richmond Mall in Nelson, and Christchurch shopping centre Barrington, which has undergone significant extensions and transformations since the 2011 earthquake.

Tauranga-raised businessman David Hill is returning to his hometown to manage the plaza and is thrilled to be overseeing what he calls 'significant expansion plans”.

David arrives in Tauranga on April 2 and says changes to the plaza will begin on day one.

'I'm fired up and excited about taking it to where it should be.

'Everything we're going to do will be positive.”

He says the first few months will consist of seeking public opinion and finding out what the community wants from the plaza.

'We need to try and understand more about the community. It would be arrogant to come here and think we know everything.”

He says this feedback, as well as the plaza's main tenants (The Warehouse, Countdown and Oceanblue) will be the driving force behind the changes to the plaza.

There are also plans for extending the plaza – and even the name is in the air.

'Everything is on the table,” he says.

'The place is in need of a good cut and polish.”

David, who has been managing Richmond Mall, has a large family presence here in Tauranga and says he jumped at the chance to return home.

'My parents are the happiest people in the world.

'Given the considerable experience in shopping centre development that exists within the Tinline portfolio, the next few years are going to be very exciting at Palm Beach Plaza.”

Managing director Steve Baigent is pleased to add Palm Beach Plaza to the company's portfolio and is looking forward to working with the community and tenants.

'Palm Beach Plaza trades well and has enormous potential with its location and the demographic growth projected for the region.”

Palm Beach Plaza was built in 1997 and was developed, owned and managed by local development company Hawridge.

Plaza director Greg Clarke put the plaza on the market late last year.