Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Brandon mall plans $50-million expansion

Tenants for the added 150,000 square feet off the center court have not been announced.

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published January 6, 2006

A $50-million expansion will bring an outdoor-oriented lifestyle center with restaurants and shops to Westfield Brandon next year.

The shopping mall's owner plans to announce on Wednesday the details of the 150,000-square-foot addition. It would open in spring 2007.

There is no word yet on the possible tenants from Westfield Group, the mall's Australian owners.

The Brandon mall has approached Old Navy in the past. Other chains looking for space in the Tampa Bay area include Kohl's and Dick's Sporting Goods, a Sports Authority clone that recently announced its first regional store in the Groves at Wesley Chapel.

"We'll explain all the details we can when we unveil the plans," said David Josker, manager of the 170-store Brandon mall.

The addition is part of a larger rethinking that all malls go through as they mature and retail trends change.

Over the next three years, 65 of the original store leases in the decade-old Brandon mall are up for renewal. That means tenants are shuffling around. Several retail shops, including Lady Foot Locker and Victoria's Secret, already have expanded or changed their storefronts.

The new addition, located off the mall's center court, will make the Brandon shopping center almost as large as its five largest rivals, each covering about 1.2-million square feet.

Right now, the Brandon mall features 987,000 square feet, including the recently added Sam Seltzer's Steak House. Mall predictions call for the population of 530,000 people living around Brandon to grow about 13 percent within three years.

Among Tampa Bay area malls, the Brandon mall has ranked neck-and-neck with International Plaza with 10-million shoppers. It was the region's second most popular shopping destination, until Brandon's traffic slipped to fifth place in 2005.

According to the 2005 Scarborough Report, 25 percent of Tampa Bay metro area adult shoppers said they had been to International Plaza in the past 90 days. The same figure for the Brandon mall fell from 24 to 17 percent in 2005.

To grow in Brandon, Westfield is negotiating with county officials over how to handle the extra traffic. The mall on Interstate 75 feeds into two congested roadways - State Road 60 and the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.

Plans in discussion would add lanes to the mall access road at State Road 60, which routinely backs up, said Biff Crane, a Tampa lawyer guiding negotiations for Westfield.

Times staff writers Bill Varian and Letitia Stein contributed to this report. Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or 727 893-8252.

[Last modified January 5, 2006, 08:51:07]