As Seminole Towne Center struggles, Sanford examines potential for redevelopment

When the Seminole Towne Center opened 25 years ago, the Sanford Mall was one of the hottest malls in the area with high-end department stores Parisians and Burdines as well as Sears and JCPenney, once pillars of the American middle class.

The new mall quickly attracted new restaurants and stores along State Route 46, near the intersection of Interstate-4, as shoppers arrived from southern Volusia and eastern Lake counties. . Residents have bought large homes with swimming pools in the nearby affluent communities of Heathrow and Alaqua.

Today, these flagship stores are gone. Even Macy’s, which took over Burdines long ago, closed in January, a victim of online shopping conveniences such as same-day delivery. The pandemic hit just two months later, further accelerating the need to reimagine what Sanford officials say is one of the city’s most valuable properties where sprawling parking lots lie mostly empty just a week before Christmas. .

Now, Sanford executives are hoping the mall’s relaunch plans will once again attract crowds and new residents.

City officials are talking with the mall’s new owner and an architecture and engineering firm about the potential for redevelopment of the property into a walkable mall with a mix of apartments, townhouses, shops, offices and places of entertainment.

“The mall catalyzed this whole area with all the other stores, apartments and restaurants that came after the mall [opened] in the surrounding area,” Mayor Art Woodruff said. “So in looking at how to reuse it, we want to make sure that [the mall property] continues to be the anchor of this whole region.

No development applications have been submitted to the city, according to Amye King, Sanford’s planning director. Even so, the city wants to work with landlords to help guide any new development.

“This is all very, very preliminary,” King said, calling the property a “gateway” to the city. “But now is the time to talk… And we want to work with the [owners] and the developer.

In another sign of the Towne Center’s struggles, Ohio-based Washington Prime Group in March ceded ownership of most of the mall’s 1.1 million square foot property to Kohan Retail Investment Group for $52.35 million to avoid defaulting on its loans. Based in New York, Kohan owns 35 other malls across the country and specializes in mall redesigns.

Mike Falzarano, director of project management at Kohan, said malls must reinvent themselves “and adapt to the current environment” as online shopping proliferates and the economic fallout from the pandemic has accelerated the end of the traditional business model.

“But malls still provide a dynamic that online shopping doesn’t,” he said. “Some people like to go into a store and see and smell things and try on clothes.”

Falzarano would not offer additional details on redevelopment plans. He said his company is working with the mall’s 100 tenants to help them keep their doors open, such as restructuring leases and offering incentives.

“But we are certainly looking to implement new strategies,” he said. “But I think reinvention is the key to longevity.”

It’s not just the Seminole Towne Center looking to reinvent itself.

Winter Park Village, a popular dining, shopping and entertainment complex, will undergo a $50 million facelift next year to make it more pedestrian-friendly.

On-street parking will be eliminated in favor of expanded pedestrian spaces. Pocket playpens and outdoor furniture will be placed throughout the complex, along with more festive light installations.

In Oviedo, council members agreed this year to let a developer demolish the former Macy’s store in Oviedo’s struggling mall and build up to 425 apartments – including 175 units for residents aged 55 and over – and a hotel in this space.

Landlords and city officials hope new residents will be attracted to nearby businesses.

Sanford resident Denny Gibbs said adding residential units to the Seminole Towne Center property is helping the struggling mall and energizing the surrounding area.

“I would like to see mixed use, like commercial, office and residential,” Gibbs said. “If you put people in the middle, you have a market.”

She added that new professional offices, such as for lawyers, could also help attract more restaurants and other small shops.

Because Sanford granted certain commercial development rights to the mall property before the Seminole Towne Center was built, the city today may be limited in approving or directing future redevelopment, officials said. the city. However, it is likely that any new residential structures will need to be approved by the city.

Still, Sanford officials prefer not to see the mall razed to make way for car dealerships, storage facilities or an industrial complex.

“This is valuable property along a wide stretch of I-4,” she said. “And this is the city of Sanford, and we deserve the best…. And we will all work together to make it as successful and beautiful as possible.

Sanford Commissioner Patty Mahany, whose district includes the Seminole Towne Center, said it’s important for the city to ensure that whatever happens to the mall’s ownership should benefit the community. surrounding area.

“We are already starting to see empty spaces in this area,” she said.

Mahany – who prefers shopping in a store rather than online – said she was saddened to see the mall struggling.

“It’s hard for me to believe we’re even having this conversation,” Mahany said. “He is only 25…. But I’m sure we’ll have a great redevelopment.

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