Fashion Square Mall up for sale (Orlando, Winter Park: neighborhoods, buy, tenants)

[Downtown Steve]

Orlando Fashion Square mall goes up for sale - Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida's oldest major mall, opened in 1973, Orlando Fashion Square was hit particularly hard during the economic downturn. It lost many tenants and replaced national chains mostly with independent shops that often haven't stayed open long.

[IAm_FloridaBorn]

Well what do you think Steve? I LOVE that mall personally, feels like a mall up north because of it's design, but I mean that area needs a complete MAKEOVER.

Plus I have ran out of my Orlando Sentinal monthly readings, what are some plans for the mall area?

[kyle19125]

That's actually good news as new ownership will most likely invest in improvements to make it relevant again. One can always tell when a mall or shopping center is up for sale when they stop making basic improvements like paint and minor fix-ups. Seminole Town Center has that appearance too.

[Downtown Steve]

I'd be surprised to see another mall developer buy a mall in this climate. Fashion Square's downfall doesn't seem to be an exception to the rule when it comes to malls in general.

My personal hope is that the area is repurposed into mixed use development and an activity center. Consider the area around it: Traditional neighborhoods (Colonialtown, Central Park East, Baldwin Park, Audobon Park, Coytown), frequent transit, proximity to downtown, Cady Way literally runs through the property. Just my opinion, but given all of these facilities, it seems like a very bad use of this vast amount of land to spend on parking and X number of retail outlets contributing X amount into the tax base and of course the opportunity cost of what a solid activity center could have on the property values on the land around it whether it be the neighborhoods or the retail strips across 50 owned by the GOAA.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Downtown Steve

I'd be surprised to see another mall developer buy a mall in this climate. Fashion Square's downfall doesn't seem to be an exception to the rule when it comes to malls in general.

My personal hope is that the area is repurposed into mixed use development and an activity center. Consider the area around it: Traditional neighborhoods (Colonialtown, Central Park East, Baldwin Park, Audobon Park, Coytown), frequent transit, proximity to downtown, Cady Way literally runs through the property. Just my opinion, but given all of these facilities, it seems like a very bad use of this vast amount of land to spend on parking and X number of retail outlets contributing X amount into the tax base and of course the opportunity cost of what a solid activity center could have on the property values on the land around it whether it be the neighborhoods or the retail strips across 50 owned by the GOAA.

I agree regarding a traditional mall developer perhaps avoiding it, but the neighborhood does have the demographics for an open-air center which tends to attract higher end retail and restaurants which the surrounding area could probably support. Some malls have gone through the transformation of "opening things up" by removing the roof and one side of the mall concourses while leaving most or all of the anchor stores in place, though I can't recall what the structure of the mall portion is like at Fashion Square so perhaps that's not an option.

[Downtown Steve]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "demographics for an open-air center" but wouldn't a mixed use (retail on the first floor with residential and office space above) be an open air center with the added bonus of having it be walkable, more accessible for seniors and those who don't drive and, in my unexpert opinion, increasing the chances for businesses to succeed. I talked to the manager at Barnie's Coffee in Fashion Square, for instance, and she said that they have done significantly better once the Entrprenural Center opened up in that part of the mall. And that made sense to me. Even if no one's shopping, people go there for work and meetings and grab a coffee.

[Granny Sue]

It's really sad to see Fashion Square in the shape it's in...I remember when it, Colonial Mall and Winter Park Mall were THE places to go.

I for one really don't like the "open air" marketplaces so I'm going to hope for a makeover.

[Crane's Rooster]

I think they should convert it to a outlet mall for locals. I know alot of locals go the outlets frequently in the tourist corridor. Of course every time I go, I leave as annoyed as a wet cat because of the crazy driving, lack of parking and hordes of tourists. If they just did a simple cosmetic facelift and lured in the outlet stores I would be there all the time.

[Amaro]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

I think they should convert it to a outlet mall for locals. I know alot of locals go the outlets frequently in the tourist corridor. Of course every time I go, I leave as annoyed as a wet cat because of the crazy driving, lack of parking and hordes of tourists. If they just did a simple cosmetic facelift and lured in the outlet stores I would be there all the time.

I agree with that, Outlet malls are very popular and rare. If they turned festival bay into a outlet mall as an extension to the existing outlet, business would boom.

If they turned fashion square mall into a outlet mall, I would be there almost every other weekend.

[Crane's Rooster]

Originally Posted by Amaro

I agree with that, Outlet malls are very popular and rare. If they turned festival bay into a outlet mall as an extension to the existing outlet, business would boom.

If they turned fashion square mall into a outlet mall, I would be there almost every other weekend.

It seems like it would be such an easy transition but at the same time, the current owner, Simon Malls, already owns multiple outlet malls so I'm sure they considered it at some point. I'm just saying for me personally, Fashion Square Mall has a great location, good infrastructure (good bones as they say), and it would be a shame to see it go. If I could go there and get factory direct prices I may never venture down to I-Drive to shop again.