Seminole Towne Center Mall (Orlando, Lake Mary: for sale, salons, leasing)

[kyle19125]

Does anyone have any idea of what's going on with the mall in terms of management? It's been showing obvious lack of upkeep in terms of the facade, landscaping and whatnot which seems counter intuitive to all the new development happening across the street from the mall at the Southgate development and the newly expanded interchange at SR46 and I-4. Simon owns the mall and it would seem doesn't want it anymore, maybe it's for sale???

[Nevezan]

I haven't seen much news on Seminole Towne Center in well over a year myself. I decided to dig a little deeper in Orlando Business Weekly and the last major mentioning of the mall was how they introduced Dick's Sporting Goods and Burlington which was the last thing I remembered.

Nothing about whether Simon was going to close/sell it or not came up either except that Simon has been trying to remodel and make some additions to their malls. An article did mention that they try to renovate 15-20 malls at a time, and knowing their track record, it's just a matter of time before they check back in on Seminole Towne Center. How long is anybody's guess.

I'm assuming that management might be focusing on Waterford Lakes Town Center and the Florida Mall at the moment, though. Waterford Lakes is getting a couple of new retail centers and Simon has been leasing out more restaurants for that open air center to keep up with competition. As for Florida Mall, Saks leaving was probably a huge wake up call for them to revitalizing some of the mall's direction, and that's why it's expanding the food court into that vacant area along with relocating Zara and such. They just seem preoccupied and Seminole Towne Center is set on the back burner momentarily.

I can't see them giving up on Seminole Towne Center completely though. Lake Mary certainly has the cliente that warrants a serious mall renovation, especially now that high end grocers like Fresh Market are opening up there. Not to mention, it's really hard to miss the mall when you are driving along I4, so the mall definitely gets decent exposure. It's just a matter of Simon putting in the effort to keep it in shape which they probably will start doing soon with Southgate trying to attract cliente from the SunRail. Almost all major malls and retail developments have been bought out and are in the process of being revitalized in Orlando, so, if West Oaks has potential, then Seminole Towne Center certainly does by a long shot.

[kyle19125]

As with much of the Orlando metro area, this commercial development doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The fact that Seminole Towne Center has been left neglected doesn't add up when you check out the demographics. Population of 100K within 5 miles of the mall, double digit growth over the next several years projected and average household income of that area is nearly 88K. The only recent additions in the mall have been through a Dick's Sporting Goods and a Burlington Coat Factory??? Hardly earth moving. Simon really blew it when the mall was built ahead of area growth back in 1995, about 10 years too soon. Of course by the time the 10 year mark had come around the non-anchor stores with 10 year leases didn't renew and as a result sub-par lower demographic stores moved in. The recession killed off even more, but meanwhile population growth in the area tipped toward higher income and they have avoided the mall like the plague (except Macy's and Dillards for the most part) due to how downmarket it's become, particularly the Macy's wing which is filled with a revolving door selection of "no name" urban-style clothing stores, nail salons and whatnot.

[Crane's Rooster]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

As with much of the Orlando metro area, this commercial development doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The fact that Seminole Towne Center has been left neglected doesn't add up when you check out the demographics. Population of 100K within 5 miles of the mall, double digit growth over the next several years projected and average household income of that area is nearly 88K. The only recent additions in the mall have been through a Dick's Sporting Goods and a Burlington Coat Factory??? Hardly earth moving. Simon really blew it when the mall was built ahead of area growth back in 1995, about 10 years too soon. Of course by the time the 10 year mark had come around the non-anchor stores with 10 year leases didn't renew and as a result sub-par lower demographic stores moved in. The recession killed off even more, but meanwhile population growth in the area tipped toward higher income and they have avoided the mall like the plague (except Macy's and Dillards for the most part) due to how downmarket it's become, particularly the Macy's wing which is filled with a revolving door selection of "no name" urban-style clothing stores, nail salons and whatnot.

I think you pretty much nailed it here Kyle. When the mall was built, although Altamonte Mall appeared to be bursting at the seams back than, many people still believed the Mall was too remote and out of the way. Although it's only a few exits away from Altamonte most shoppers were so used to Altamonte convincing them to travel the extra few minutes presented a hard challenge, particularly since back than it was on a pretty undeveloped stretch of I4 making it feel even more out there. By the time growth caught up, the trend never caught on which leads us to where we are today. I think they would have been better off building the mall on Lake Mary Blvd or where the current Heathrow town center is.