Orlando’s best known “dead mall” is looking for a lifeline in the form of a new owner.
The two-story, 625,000-square-foot Fashion Square Mall, known locally for being largely uninhabited for a number of years, has been listed by Dallas-based real estate company Edge on behalf of owner TBB Orlando LLC, a group related to Delaware-based bank holding company Bancorp.
Located at 3201 E. Colonial Drive, the property is being marketed as an investment opportunity, as Bancorp holders a ground lease (owning only the buildings) on the space through 2071, according to Orlando Business Journal.
The actual land is owned by Orlando developer Chuck Whittall’s firm Unicorp National Developments. The groups have disagreed on what to do with the property for years, but Whittall told OBJ in 2022 that negotiations were back on, the journal reports.
The mall was built in 1973 as part of an open-air center with an enclosed Sears store. Previous owners sold the mall in 2013 and new tenants were added. The property eventually went into foreclosure, followed by bank ownership.
“The demise of Orlando Fashion Square alongside the economic growth of Orlando has afforded an opportunity for the future owner to create a $500 million mixed-use development,” reads the listing.
