University Mall (Florida)
28°3′26″N 82°26′4″W / 28.05722°N 82.43444°W
.JPG) Entrance of University Mall. | |
 | |
| Location | Tampa, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Opening date | August 15, 1974 |
| Developer | Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation |
| Management | CBRE |
| No. of stores and services | 165 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 (second floor located at food court) |
| Website | University Mall |
University Mall, previously University Square Mall, is located near the University of South Florida, just north of the city limits of Tampa on Fowler Avenue; a major eight (8) lane, east-west corridor. Property located just east of I-275, a major north/south interstate serving Tampa and counties to the north.
Major uses and industry in close proximity include:
- University of South Florida's main campus just east and is the nation's 9th largest public university with more than 47,000 students and 16,000 faculty/staff.
- Four (4) hospitals; including James Haley VA Hospital, Florida Hospital, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Shriners Hospitals for Children. In total more than 1,274 beds.
- Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. Collectively, more than 5 million people visit these attractions annually.
More than 260,000 people live and 145,000 work within five (5) miles radius. Strong retail presence and density.
Presently, the mall is anchored by Sears, Macy's, Dillard's, Burlington Coat Factory, and K&G Fashion Superstore. There are a wide variety of national, regional and local retailers; lending itself to many different population and demographic segments. The Mall also has a 16 screen cinema scheduled to re-open in the fourth quarter 2014.
History
University Square Mall was officially dedicated August 15, 1974. The first anchor stores, Maas Brothers and Robinson's of Florida opened along with the mall. JCPenney came inline in October 1974. Sears, the last of the four original anchors, began business in September 1975. Burdines was added, as a fifth anchor, in 1983.
Robinson's of Florida was rebranded by Louisiana's Maison Blanche in 1988. This store, in turn, was rebranded as a Dillard's in 1991. Dillard's moved into a newly built store, built north of the original one, in November 1995. This move was accompanied by a large-scale renovation and expansion of the shopping complex, whereby the vacated Dillard's was gutted and rebuilt as new inline stores, with an upper level food court. A 16-screen Regal Cinemas adjoined the new food court. These modifications were completed in August 1996.
Meanwhile, Burdines had closed in September 1991 and re-opened in the Maas Brothers store space in October 1991. This store became a Burdines-Macy's in January 2004 and a full-fledged Macy's in March 2005. The old Burdines housed a Montgomery Ward between March 1992 and February 2001. The space re-opened as a Burlington Coat Factory in October 2001.
Longtime anchor JCPenney closed effective October 1, 2005, as a smaller prototype store opened in nearby Wesley Chapel. Steve & Barry's took over the JCPenney spot in 2006. In October 2008, the Dillard's location in the mall was changed from a standard retail location to a clearance center.[1] In January 2009, both Steve & Barry's and Starbucks closed their University Mall locations. The building that housed Steve & Barry's will eventually be demolished to make way for future retailers.[2][3]
University Mall's tenant space is owned by LSREF2 Clover Property 18, LLC and overseen by Hudson Advisers, LLC, a global asset management company who specializes in repositioning and disposition of varied property types throughout the world. CBRE was hired in September 2012 to handle the property management and leasing. CBRE is an established leader in the commercial real estate industry and the world's largest commercial real estate company.