East Fowler Avenue and Club Drive
Hillsborough County, Florida
Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation opened three shopping hubs in Florida during 1974; ALTAMONTE MALL {Altamonte Springs}, UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL {Hillsborough County} and VOLUSIA MALL {Daytona Beach}.
The Hillsborough County mall's story begins on June 27, 1972, when Edward J. DeBartolo divulged plans to develop an -as of yet- unnamed shopping complex in Tampa's northern environs. It would feature three anchors; Maas Brothers, Robinson's of Florida and J.C. Penney. By November, construction was underway on the UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL project, with Sears having been added as a potential fourth anchor.
The fully-enclosed, single-level retail venue was being developed on an 80-acre plot, located 7.5 miles north of center city Tampa. Thirty-two stores and services commenced operation on August 15, 1974. Included in this group of dedications was a 2-level (127,000 square foot), Tampa-based Maas Brothers. A second anchor, a 2-level (128,600 square foot) J.C. Penney, welcomed its first patrons on October 30, 1974. A 2-level (158,700 square foot), St. Petersburg-based Robinson's of Florida made its debut on August 4, 1975.
Charter UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL inline stores included Lawton's Jewelers, Jacobs Jewelers, Davey Jones Locker, Merry-Go-Round, Baron's men's wear, SupeRx Drugs and Mr. Dunderbak's Bavarian Pantry. The General Cinema Corporation University Square I & II showed its first features on October 18, 1974. GCC dedicated the University Square III & IV on November 15th.
A 2-level (144,900 square foot) Sears was dedicated on September 8, 1975. The shopping hub now enveloped approximately 1,008,700 leasable square feet and contained 109 stores and services beneath its roof.
The first expansion added a 1-level (100,800 square foot), Miami-based Burdines, which was inaugurated on July 24, 1983. The gross leasable area of UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL now stood at around 1,009,500 square feet, with a tenant list of 130 stores and services. With this enlargement, UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL trumped TYRONE SQUARE {in St. Petersburg} and become the largest mall in the Tampa Bay Area.
Retail rivals were aplenty. At first, there were only WEST SHORE PLAZA (1967) {9 miles southwest, in Tampa} and FLORILAND MALL (1972) {1.6 miles southwest, also in Tampa}. These were joined by COUNTRYSIDE MALL (1975) {18 miles southwest, in Pinellas County}, TAMPA BAY CENTER (1976-2005) {6.1 miles southwest, in Tampa} and EAST LAKE SQUARE (1976-1998) {4.8 miles southeast, in Hillsborough County}.
Anchor store rebrandings commenced at UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL following the August 1987 acquisition of several Robinson's of Florida stores by Baton Rouge-based Goudchaux's-Maison Blanche. West Florida locations operated as Robinson's-Maison Blanche until their conversion to the Maison Blanche nameplate on March 28, 1988.
Maison Blanche stores were rebranded by Dillard's in August 1991. By this time, the official name of the shopping hub had morphed to simply UNIVERSITY SQUARE. On September 28, 1991, Burdines was shuttered, re-opening -in the old Maas Brothers location- in the following month. The old Burdines spot was taken by Montgomery Ward, which opened its doors on August 7, 1992.
Chicago's Heitman Retail Properties acquired UNIVERSITY SQUARE in March 1992. 2 years later, they started a 48 million dollar renovation. A 2-level (188,300 square foot) Dillard's was built on the north side of the original store. This new location was dedicated on November 1, 1995. The original store, now vacant, was gutted and rebuilt as new retail spaces, with a Food Court installed on the upper level.
This connected with the Cobb Theatres University 16 megaplex, which was dedicated on December 3, 1996. Built as part of the second level of a new parking garage, this cinema replaced the mall's two twinplex venues, which were shuttered in September and December 1996. The shopping center now encompassed approximately 1,332,200 leasable square feet.
Montgomery Ward closed for good in March 2001, with its store space re-opening, as a Burlington Coat Factory, on October 12th. This was followed by the conversion of Burdines to Burdines-Macy's, on January 30, 2004. The store was fully "Macy-ated" on March 6, 2005.
In the meantime, several new shopping venues had opened. These included BRANDON TOWN CENTER (1995) {10.4 miles southeast, in Hillsborough County}, CITRUS PARK TOWN CENTER (1999) {8.2 miles west, in Hillsborough County} and SHOPS AT WIREGRASS (2005) {10 miles northeast, in Pasco County}.
SHOPS AT WIREGRASS snatched J.C. Penney from UNIVERSITY MALL. The store closed October 1, 2005 and re-opened, as a 1-level (70,000 square foot) Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, in December.
The Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust had acquired UNIVERSITY SQUARE in December 1997. They sold the property to a joint venture of Santa Barbara-based Somera Capital Management and Rockwood Capital in June 2007. Chicago-based General Growth Properties was enlisted to manage the property.
A 10 million dollar remodeling got underway in March 2008, which included rebuilt entrances, family restrooms, community seating, soft play areas, skylights and an updated Food Court. These improvements were completed in November 2008. Dillard's had been demoted to a Clearance Center during 2008. Steve & Barry's closed for good on January 1, 2009.
The multiplex theater, which had operated as the Regal University 16 since 1997, was shuttered in September 2010. Jupiter, Florida's Frank Theatres re-opened the complex, as the University 12, in November 2011. After plans for a major renovation fell through, the cinema closed in January 2013. Dallas-based Studio Movie Grill revamped the structure and re-opened it, as the SMG Tampa, on October 23, 2014. The venue was shuttered in March 2021. Look Dine-In Cinemas, another Dallas-based concern, reopened the movie house in September 2021.
Meanwhile, a new mall owner had come on board in December 2014. New York City's RD Management acquired UNIVERSITY MALL and announced a multi-million dollar renovation in June 2015. In their plan, the virtually vacant West Wing was to be demolished and replaced with University Way, an open-air lifestyle component.
In fact, the redevelopment plan proposed that the roof over the entire mallway be removed. It also advocated that the long-vacant Penney's building be repurposed. A mixed-use facility was to be created, with retail, entertainment, academic, technological, scientific, residential and office components.
The UNIVERSITY MALL Macy's was shuttered in March 2017. Dillard's Clearance Center relocated to the first floor of the vacant Macy's and re-opened on May 2, 2017. Grand's, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based department store, leased the first floor of the vacant Dillard's Clearance Center. The (90,000 square foot) Grand's was dedicated in September 2017.
In March 2018, RD Management announced that the official name of the mall would eventually be changed to UPTOWN. At this time, they also acquired the Sears building. With this transaction, RD Management owned the entirety of the mall.
Sears was shuttered in November 2018, with its demolition commencing in January 2020. The Dillard's Clearance Center went dark on April 28, 2022, with that building being bulldozed in September. The old Maas / Macy's was replaced by a new 110,000 square foot South Wing. This housed tenants such as Vu Studios, a (23,000 square foot) Sprouts Farmers Market and relocated (49,000 square foot) Burlington.
Sources:
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Times
The Tampa Business Journal
"History of University Mall In Tampa" / Joshua McMorrow Hernandez
Hillsborough County, Florida property tax assessor website
www.glimcher.com (Glimcher Realty Trust)
www.ggp.com (General Growth Properties)
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.universitymalltampa.com
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Times
The Tampa Business Journal
"History of University Mall In Tampa" / Joshua McMorrow Hernandez
Hillsborough County, Florida property tax assessor website
www.glimcher.com (Glimcher Realty Trust)
www.ggp.com (General Growth Properties)
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.universitymalltampa.com
https://www.tampabay.com
