St. Petersburg, Florida
The Florida Suncoast's second fully-enclosed shopping center was developed by New York City's Winston-Muss Corporation. The complex rose on a 50-acre site, located 6 miles north of downtown St. Petersburg. GATEWAY MALL had a very bumpy start. At times, it seemed that it might never be completed. First conceived in 1956, its construction commenced in 1961, with the building of a freestanding Publix supermarket. This store opened in 1963.
An enclosed mall, tentatively known as WINSTON PLAZA, was to be added to the north side of Publix and be anchored by a Woolco discount mart. Work got underway in February 1966. In May, the official name of the shopping center-to-be was changed to GATEWAY MALL.
Soon, the project encountered a major delay, caused by the Woolworth parent company. Their lease stipulated that the Woolco did not have to open until a certain percentage of inline mall tenants were signed. More tenants were secured, with the snag being worked out. Construction resumed in April 1967.
GATEWAY MALL was designed by Clearwater's Frank R. Mudano. The complex originally encompassed 340,000 leasable square feet and would eventually house twenty-four stores and services. An official dedication was held on March 13, 1968. The 1-level (115,000 square foot) Woolco opened its doors on this day.
The grand opening had a "village green under a roof" motif. Don Jones (Mayor of St. Petersburg) arrived via helicopter. In attendance were officials from the Winston-Muss Corporation and F.W. Woolworth Company. Music was provided by a German band.
A contemporary account of the celebration describes the mall as "a controlled environment with constant temperatures, shade and shelter, (where) music will fill the mall area (and) artistic lighting and design will induce a mood of relaxation and pleasure." One might note how, in the present day, these qualities are viewed in a negative light.
Charter inline stores included Eckerd Drugs, Thom McAn Shoes, Morrison's Cafeteria, Lerner Shops and a (16,800 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10. The mall's interior was decorated with "Palms In Sunshine," a 2,400-square-foot mural painted by Paul Takacs, of Silver Spring, Maryland.
One of the earliest regional shopping centers in -or around- St. Petersburg was a competitor of the original GATEWAY MALL. CENTRAL PLAZA (5.4 miles southwest, in St. Petersburg) had opened for business in September 1952 and been expanded in 1957. The open-air, cluster-type complex would eventually be known as CENTRAL PLAZA MALL.
Back at GATEWAY MALL, there were two entertainment facilities. The 400-seat Country Dinner Theatre was a live-performance venue. The 1,100-seat Century's Mall Theatre , a single-screen movie house, was dedicated on June 4, 1968. It was acquired by General Cinema Corporation in mid-1973 and renamed the Gateway Cinema. In May 1976, the venue re-opened as the twin-screen Gateway Cinema I & II.
Meanwhile, a second mall construction phase had added a 1-level (60,000 square foot), Miami-based J. Byron. This store began business on November 18, 1970 and expanded the mall's gross leasable area to approximately 400,000 square feet.
The first anchor rebranding took place after Woolco closed its doors on January 31, 1983. The store was divided between a Framingham, Massachusetts-based Zayre and Winter Haven, Florida-based Scotty's Lumber. These opened in August 1983. Zayre was rebranded by Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Ames in October 1989 and closed for good in 1990. The Byrons store was shuttered in July 1996. It was remodeled and re-opened, as a Norcross, Georgia-based Uptons, on August 9, 1996.
By this time, GATEWAY MALL was showing its age. The fountains that once graced its interior had been shut down and made into planters. Commerce had moved to newer and larger malls on the Suncoast, such as TYRONE SQUARE (1972) {6.2 miles southwest, in St. Petersburg}. PINELLAS SQUARE (1977-2004) {2.3 miles southwest, in Pinellas Park} presented a bit of competition in its earlier days, but was in a downward spiral by 1996.
A 20 million dollar redevelopment, conducted by a joint venture of Atlanta's MetroGroup and Branch Capital Partners, got underway in February 1998. The bulk of GATEWAY MALL was leveled, leaving Uptons, a bank and Burger King standing.
A 353,100 square foot power plaza, known as GATEWAY MARKET CENTER, was created. Its primary anchor, a 1-level (122,000 square foot) Target, was dedicated on March 7, 1999. Publix built a new (37,800 square foot) store, which began business on July 29, 1999. Charter stores included PetSmart, Office Depot, Waccamaw's HomePlace and T.J. Maxx. In the midst of the renovation, the Uptons chain went belly-up. The store space was retenanted, by Manatee County, Florida-based Bealls ["Belz"], in November 1999.
The Oak Brook, Illinois-based Inland Group acquired GATEWAY MARKET CENTER in August 2000. In February 2007, a joint venture of Beachwood, Ohio's Developers Diversified Realty and the New York City-based Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) bought the shopping hub.
In March 2010, GATEWAY MARKET CENTER was sold to -none other than- the Oak Brook, Illinois-based Inland Retail Real Estate Investment Trust, a subsidiary of the Inland Group. A new subsidiary, known as InvenTrust Properties, was formed in March 2014.
Sources:
The St. Petersburg Evening Independent
http://www.ddr.com / Developers Diversified Realty (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.cinematreasures.org
