Mall owner General Growth Properties of Chicago hopes the new look will attract shoppers beyond the center's conventional five-mile trading area, say company representatives. The mall is seven miles north of Downtown Orlando and faces intense competition from new open-air, retail ventures in the nearby suburbs of Winter Park, Sanford and Lake Mary, area brokers and industry consultants tell GlobeSt.com.
For example, in south Orange County, about five miles from Downtown Orlando, Boston-based Wilder Cos., headed by Tom Wilder, plans to break ground later this month on a 440,000-sf center. At the same time, Wilder is negotiating for land near the MetroWest community in southwest Orange County for a similar open-air venture, area brokers in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com.
"The open-air shopping centers are giving existing enclosed malls a strong run for the money," a developer who may be involved in a comparable project near Orlando tells GlobeSt.com.
Food-oriented retail developments especially are challenging the market share of regional centers, David W. Marks, president, Marketplace Advisors Inc., Maitland, FL., tells GlobeSt.com. "A lot of these projects don't have the typical retail setting of the past," Marks says. "With more and more people eating meals outside of their homes, restaurant-rich retail developments should continue to be strong in 2004 in the Orlando area.
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