Opening date August 15, 1974 No. of stores and services 165 Opened 15 August 1974 | Management CBRE No. of anchor tenants 4 | |
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Location Tampa, Florida, United States Total retail floor area 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m) Address 2200 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612, USA Hours Closed now Saturday10AM–9PMSunday12–6PMMonday10:30AM–8:30PMTuesday10:30AM–8:30PMWednesday10:30AM–8:30PMThursday10:30AM–8:30PMFriday10:30AM–9PMSuggest an edit No. of floors 2 (second floor located at food court) Developer Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation Similar WestShore Plaza, Westfield Citrus Park, Mall at University Town Ce, International Plaza and Bay Street, Westfield Brandon Profiles | ||
University Mall, previously University Square Mall, is a shopping mall located near the University of South Florida, just north of the city limits of Tampa on Fowler Avenue; a major eight lane, east-west corridor. The property is located just east of I-275, a major north/south interstate serving Tampa and counties to the north.
Major landmarks in close proximity include:
- University of South Florida's main campus just east and is the nation's 9th largest public university with more than 47,000 students and 16,000 faculty/staff.
- Four (4) hospitals; including James Haley VA Hospital, Florida Hospital, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Shriners Hospitals for Children. In total more than 1,274 beds.
- Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. Collectively, more than 5 million people visit these attractions annually.
More than 260,000 people live and 145,000 work within five (5) miles of the mall. The mall boasts a strong retail presence and density.
Presently, the mall is anchored by Sears, Dillard's Clearance Center, Burlington Coat Factory, and K&G Fashion Superstore. There are a wide variety of national, regional and local retailers; lending itself to many different population and demographic segments. In January 2017 Macy's announced to close their University Mall location. Clearance sales should last 8-12 weeks before it closes for good.
History
University Square Mall was officially dedicated August 15, 1974. The first anchor stores, Maas Brothers and Robinson's of Florida opened along with the mall. JCPenney came inline in October 1974. Sears, the last of the four original anchors, began business in September 1975. Burdines was added, as a fifth anchor, in 1983.
Robinson's of Florida was rebranded by Louisiana's Maison Blanche in 1988. This store, in turn, was rebranded as a Dillard's in 1991. Dillard's moved into a newly built store, built north of the original one, in November 1995. This move was accompanied by a large-scale renovation and expansion of the shopping complex, whereby the vacated Dillard's was gutted and rebuilt as new inline stores, with an upper level food court. A 16-screen Regal Cinemas adjoined the new food court. These modifications were completed in August 1996.
Meanwhile, Burdines had closed in September 1991 and re-opened in the Maas Brothers store space in October 1991. This store became a Burdines-Macy's in January 2004 and a full-fledged Macy's in March 2005. The old Burdines housed a Montgomery Ward between March 1992 and February 2001. The space re-opened as a Burlington Coat Factory in October 2001.
Longtime anchor JCPenney closed effective October 1, 2005, as a smaller prototype store opened in nearby Wesley Chapel. Steve & Barry's took over the JCPenney spot in 2006. In October 2008, the Dillard's location in the mall was changed from a standard retail location to a clearance center. In January 2009, both Steve & Barry's and Starbucks closed their University Mall locations. The building that housed Steve & Barry's will eventually be demolished to make way for future retailers.
University Mall's tenant space is owned by LSREF2 Clover Property 18, LLC and overseen by Hudson Advisers, LLC, a global asset management company who specializes in repositioning and disposition of varied property types throughout the world. CBRE was hired in September 2012 to handle the property management and leasing. CBRE is an established leader in the commercial real estate industry and the world's largest commercial real estate company.
In August 2010, the Regal Cinemas closed. It was later pircharsed by Frank Theatres, who downgraded the theater to 12 screens.