TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Developer Seeks Mall Tweaks

ADVERTISEMENT

By LIZ BLEAU

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 2, 2008

SOUTHSHORE - The developer of the Southshore Commons regional shopping project on Big Bend Road is seeking revisions to the mall plan in a proposed minor modification and zoning change.

The changes are a refinement of the approved allocation of square footage for the outdoor mall that will include several big-box stores, a multiscreen movie theater and other retail shopping space, two hotels and offices on about 130 acres west of Interstate 75, county planner John Healey said.

Because the project is part of a larger development of regional importance, or DRI, changes to the mall property must be approved as part of the DRI, Healey said.

In the changes, Equity, the developer, is establishing what the office and commercial aspects of the project will look like. It is asking for approximately 650,000 square feet of office space in up to eight buildings, which requires the zoning change.

The retail portion of the project will have up to 1 million square feet of space, about the same size as Westfield Brandon mall.

Hearings for the zoning and minor modification applications were scheduled for April 8, but Healey said a continuance is expected to May 3.

Jay Miller, an Equity vice president, said the changes are "something we have scheduled to do all along as part of the process of the development."

Miller said the mall is on schedule, with the opening slated for spring 2010.

"We feel, and the retailers we are working with do, also, that southern Hillsborough County continues to show strong growth potential and that it remains a premier retail location," Miller said.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT