OCS Opprotunity???

[gibbsak]

Just a quick observation I made today while shopping at the University Mall, but is it me or is the place going under like Eastlake Mall did back in the early 1990's.

I heard that the mall is near bankruptcy and its only getting worse with Dillards, Steve Barry's, Dunderbaks, and a dozen or so other normal stores leaving.

This got me thinking about the possibility of USF buying out the mall if it goes under to build a stadium / crap... IF it goes under I don't see the University letting it get away from them since they are running out of room on campus as it is.

:2cents

Have you not seen all of the construction going on?  The mall is there to stay.

Dillard's is NOT leaving.  I spoke with a salesperson there and was told that they have not been given a final day of the store opening and expects this Dillard's to become a closeout store.

Read the Signs, Steve and Barry's IS NOT leaving either.  The Big sales signs say "This location not going out of business"

Finally... read the OCS Questions answered that is a sticky in this forum.

First, the cost for the property would be 9 figures.  Yes 100 Million or more.  The sales price in 2007 was $144 Million.

Second, Sears, Macy's, Dillards, and Burlington Coat Factory all OWN their property (not rent), so they can't really afford to just close. JC Penny rented, which is why it could close and move to Wiregrass (allowing Steve & Barry's to move in).  Those add another $30 to $40 Million to the cost of the property.

Who on earth thinks USF will pay $200 million before any construction.

The mall will still be that expensive even if it goes under... because that land would be easier to turn into apartment or condo complex - with some additional commercial property.

They paid s*** tons for the useless new marshall center to attract students, why wouldn't they do they same for a Stadium?  And the way the MSC went, an OCS would end up like UCF's toilet bowl.

All of our athletic facilites (excluding the training buiding and the new soccer/track and field) needs upgrading or to  be built new. Looking at UCF, FSU, UF's facilities, ours are complete garbage. I know that FSU and UF have a ton of more donors than we do, but we need to find a way to upgrade within the next few years. I was looking at the baseball section on gousfbulls.com and theres a tab that takes you to a page showing artists renderings and descriptions of the new baseball stadium.....dang its going to be nice. Hopefully they can get the ball rolling on that soon.

I remember an article somewhere say that CJL wants ALL existing facilities upgraded again before considering a Football OCS.  What leavitt wants, leavitt gets... except BE wins.   

[Sunil]

Like some posters have already said, I think the death of the mall is still a bit premature...but...I figured I'd add my 2 cents before the thread is locked

There's no way that the University could afford to purchase the lot AND build a stadium...the costs would just be too high. But overlooking the ownership stakes involving Sears, Burlington and others, as well as current market conditions...we can all agree that the piece of land is undoubtedly valuable. So here's one way to get what we want.

Work hand in hand with a new development firm who would come in and purchase the property outright. The selling point would be a project to put up luxury style apartments/student housing on one side of the property and smaller commercial/office buildings spread throughout.

Instead of negotiating an outright purchase, the University could then agree to a much cheaper easement or lease interest to be placed on the 30th street side...where an OCS could be funded. The developer's end vision would be a tract which looks alot like the UCF sports village area on a more massive scale when you include the housing aspect. If built correctly, it would attract shops, bars, restaraunts, entertainment and I'm sure there would be demand from students, faculty, residents who would like to avoid New Tampa gridlock. When you tally up the commercial/residential rents for this type of massive project...i'd venture to say that it could make more $$ for a developer than trying to resurrect the Mall concept.

Of course you'd have to really sit down and figure out the particulars..especially construction costs as well as how it would work with the existing traffic and neighborhoods. But the point is that with the right creative developer...there could be creative solutions.

The other idea....tear down the elementary school  >

[crambone]

I remember an article somewhere say that CJL wants ALL existing facilities upgraded again before considering a Football OCS.  What leavitt wants, leavitt gets... except BE wins.   

Or a dining hall...  =p

[Guest]

F.Y.I.

Sears owns a large parcel of land that encompasses the 30th street side of the property.

Go to www.hcpafl.org and you can start to get some of this information by searching for an address 2200 E Fowler Ave.  The Property Appraiser website has a lot of information about the various parcels of land.

[dabull80]

2-6 big east team  doesnt deserve it's own stadium

2-6  Do you ever get anything right ?

[Cow Pie]

Have you not seen all of the construction going on?  The mall is there to stay.

Dillard's is NOT leaving.  I spoke with a salesperson there and was told that they have not been given a final day of the store opening and expects this Dillard's to become a closeout store.

Read the Signs, Steve and Barry's IS NOT leaving either.  The Big sales signs say "This location not going out of business"

The mall is doomed and here is what I'm basing my opinions on besides my observations...

Based on my information I gathered over the past day from the owner of Dunderbak's, my friend which is a regional manager of Sports Fan-Attic, and from my contact with Spencer's Gifts via Howl-O-Scream they all say that the mall is maxed out in new loans and is not making enough money to keep the place afloat.

Steve Barry's is leaving, I'm on a list to buy some of their flat screen tv's and fixtures for 80% off and this Thursday they are marking everything down to 70-80% off to clear the remaining stuff out. They are looking into moving somewhere else around USF but according to my bud with Sports Fan-Attic the Mall hiked the rent on them and as a result they are bolting.

According to my friend with Spencer's, Dillards and Macy's both plan on using their sections of the mall for storage of seasonal props and extra merchandise. So basically they are looking into turning those areas into closed off warehouses.

Dunderbak said that the mall is doomed and also added in not so many words that he can't wait to dance on its grave... they denied him the old Ruby Tuesday's space and instead are trying to offer it too the Hip Hop Soda Shop which will ensure the failure of the mall. Dunderbak's & Steve Barry's were the only reasons I ever went to that crap hole of a mall and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Not saying I'm right, just tossing this out there since the writing is on the wall for the mall and since not too much is going on nooze wise.

Who on earth thinks USF will pay $200 million before any construction.

Well as my old Environmental Science professor once said... "They are not making new land". Adding the acreage of the mall or a portion of it to the campus now will be help USF down the road when the main campus is all built up.

In any event regardless what happens I would like to encourage all to hit Steve Barry's... very cheap Christmas gifts given the 50-80% off prices 

[Bull Dozer]

People want the mall to fail so if they see or hear anything they are ready to announce it will be soon.  People have been making these claims for years now and there the mall sits in the middle of a multimillion dollar renovation. 

[mikebeau]

USF sits on a huge plot of land(in my opinion)

no need to buy more.  There are plenty of places to put a stadium today.

[Guest]

USF sits on a huge plot of land(in my opinion)

no need to buy more. There are plenty of places to put a stadium today.

Except there aren't plenty of places... I think people here fail to understand how BIG a stadium is.

The larger areas of open land along Fowler Avenue are not available. First, the southwest corner of campus - the research park - will never be used for a stadium. USF would love to see more buildings there for their research faculty to use to start companies (and USF would benefit because USF would share or hold patents).

Second, the area next to the Alumni Center will be the Patel Center.

Third, other areas are planned for the athletics district (new softball stadium and tennis courts, new practice fields and new soccer stadium, etc).

Thus, there is only one place where a stadium would fit:

(This image shows what Papa Johns stadium would look like on USF's campus.  Raymond James would be bigger.)

[BullsOnThaRize8]

yea thats exactly where I said it should go, and it would face a direction, if you used horseshoe design, that u can see the campus in the background or something good to look at.