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By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff WriterWhile Land O'Lakes booms, new shopping crossroads luring big tenants leave behind question marks at established centers.
LAND O'LAKES - For what's touted to be a boom town, Land O'Lakes is burdened with busted storefronts.
A 50,000-square-foot former Publix at Willow Bend Towne Centre vacated last month when the supermarket chain reopened across the street in Collier Commons shopping center.
Collier Commons also snatched Walgreens pharmacy from Village Lakes Shopping Center, leaving a gap in that shopping strip on State Road 54.
And the worst might be yet to come for Village Lakes: Its No. 1 tenant, Wal-Mart, is probably a year away from closing its 15-year-old store there.
Its replacement is a Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for the hot crossroads of Dale Mabry Highway and U.S. 41 on the southern edge of Land O'Lakes.
By no stretch of the imagination can Village Lakes and Willow Bend be called antique. Village Lakes was built in the early 1980s, Willow Bend in 1990.
But both must compete for tenants with new shopping centers claiming to be brighter, bigger and better situated. Collier Commons has been the biggest pain in their business backsides so far.
But competition also includes up-and-coming centers near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Wesley Chapel and soon-to-open commercial hubs at SR 54 and the Suncoast Parkway.
"Willow Bend Towne Centre will bounce back. Village Lakes I'm not so sure," said Patrick Berman, who keeps tabs on shopping centers for the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm in Tampa.
Sembler Investments Inc., the Pinellas County company that owns Willow Bend, has little choice but to wait until next year to refill the old Publix.
Sembler still collects rent from Publix. The supermarket chain is hanging on to its old lease for the next six months, likely a defensive gesture to fend off competitors.
But the absence of an anchor store to energize customers already seems to be hurting shops next to the old Publix. A neighboring movie rental store called Video Bar is moving to Brandon.
The Blockbuster video chain grabbed the property next to the new Publix and expects to capture supermarket shoppers who once swarmed Video Bar.
On the other side of the abandoned Publix, Willow Bend Liquors has fared better, if only because a liquor store hasn't opened across the street.
Publix is playing a "cat and mouse game" about whether it will sub-lease the old supermarket or wait for its lease to expire in six months, Sembler property manager Nancy Brooking said.
That freezes Sembler's plans to lease the building. Rumor has Bed Bath & Beyond moving into Willow Bend, although Brooking would confirm only that her company is "pursuing a national retailer."
"Once we can get past this time period, somebody's going to be in there, no doubt," Brooking said. "That place is just a boom town."
A national retailer has also agreed to reoccupy the old Walgreens in Village Lakes, said Rick Seyer, who markets the center for its Michigan owner, Ramco-Gershenson Properties.
Wal-Mart is a different matter. The chain's Arkansas headquarters has yet to announce a departure date. Seyer is in a holding pattern.
Another problem is Village Lakes' second major tenant. Kash n' Karry has seen better days. On a day this month, as the Land O'Lakes Publix bustled with eight cashiers, Kash n' Karry ran a single register for a trickle of customers.
In defense of his property, Seyer said older shopping centers offer advantages. Many were built when counties allowed bigger signs and less landscaping, so roadside visibility is greater. Rents can be cheaper, too.
Berman agrees with Seyer - up to a point. The age of a shopping center is last on a list of four criteria analyzed by tenants, Berman said.
Location is most important. Then comes co-tenancy, or what other types of stores lease space in the center. Next in importance is the shopping plaza's rent and fees.
"What hurts them there is they're not a corner location," Berman said. "They'll always have higher vacancy and a less successful center. . . . A corner gives you visibility, access and signage. It gives you everything."
Dominating the southeast corner of SR 54 and Collier Parkway, Willow Bend looks poised to thrive. One wild card is its largest anchor, Kmart, which escaped a first round of store closings when the company filed for bankruptcy last year.
- James Thorner covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at 813 909-4613 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4613. His e-mail address is thorner@sptimes.com