The location of the new mall is going to be at Exit 275 on Interstate 75, the large, empty, cleared land area where State Road 56 and Interstate 75 meet. This is the same exit that many people take to go to the Shops at Wiregrass. The name of the project is called the Cypress Creek Town Center.
“With the potential opening of this mall, I think that it will bring great opportunities for jobs for Saint Leo students, and will be a good addition to the surrounding community,” said Sophomore Tyler Puchalski.
The project began back in 2004 when Pasco County gave the green light for the project, according to TBO. In 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers granted a permit to begin construction. The original Cypress Creek project was set to be finished in 2010, but construction never got completely off the ground. Construction stopped in 2008 when rain flooded the construction site and drained into Cypress Creek, polluting the water. Cypress Creek is also a tributary of the Hillsborough River, which is where much of Tampa’s fresh drinking water comes from.
The original plan for the mall was for it to be a strip mall with “big box” stores: such as Kohl’s, Super Target, restaurants, and a possible movie theater. It would be much similar to the GROVE at Exit 279 where State Road 54 meets Interstate 75. However, Simon Property Group, which is a real estate investment trust company with over 300 malls in 6 different countries, recently became a developer of the project.
There are also two other developers working on the project: The Jacobs Group and Sierra Properties. All three of these developers own three different pieces of land. The companies are working together to develop the region which spans 510 acres. The Simon Property group will be developing the 1.3 million square foot Premium Outlet Center on a 50 acre property, the Jacobs group will develop another 50 acres which will be used for other retail stores and restaurants, and Sierra Properties will develop another 40 acres for hotels, offices, and a possible subdivision.
Since Simon joined part of the development project, Saks Fifth Avenue has announced plans to open up a retail location in the Cypress Creek Town Center. There is also a possibility that Nike, Coach, Calvin Klein, J. Crew, and Banana Republic will open up retail locations too.
“I think that this new mall will influence students to spend more money which they should be saving,” said Sophomore Orlando Rolim.
