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Area may also be picking up Kohl's store, cinema

A site plan shows the department store as a tenant at Cypress Creek Town Center.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published November 15, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - Kohl's department store is joining the Cypress Creek Town Center mall, according to a site plan filed with the county Tuesday.

The filing, titled "Kohl's Wesley Chapel" on county records, did not specify the store's dimensions. The plan shows Kohl's sitting in a larger mall of 969,989 square feet, including a 2,556-seat cinema. Kohl's was the only retail outlet named on the plan.

Brokers and developers have long speculated that a Kohl's would settle in the area. Earlier plans for a competing mall, the Grove At Wesley Chapel, also had shown a Kohl's, but the Grove's developer later said the plans were outdated.

The developer, Richard E. Jacobs Group, filed the site plan for Cypress Creek Town Center, but spokesman Bill Fullington was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment. Fullington had earlier confirmed only that an 18-screen AMC cinema was joining the proposed mall, which is still going through the environmental permitting process.

A Tampa-based spokeswoman, Deanne Roberts, said the company could neither confirm nor deny the Kohl's deal, "due to confidentiality agreements."

With doubts still swirling on the giant mall's ability to launch even by spring 2008, there is still no confirmation that Kohl's tenancy is a given.

"I don't know for sure," said Patrick Berman, a Tampa-based broker with extensive contacts in the Wesley Chapel area. "But knowing the Cypress Creek folks, they wouldn't name the store in the site plan unless it's pretty sure. They're very careful about these things."

Berman said a typical Kohl's store is about 88,000 square feet.

Pasco's first Kohl's will be built at Little and Ridge roads in the west. If the Cypress Creek Town Center plan goes through, Wesley Chapel will be its second location in the county.

The Wisconsin retailer appears to be on an expansion romp in the Tampa Bay market, where it opened stores in Lutz, Brandon and Countryside last month. Kohl's has 817 stores nationwide.

The chain, which specializes in mid-priced apparel and home decor, also has plans for a store in St. Petersburg.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development. He can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 14, 2006, 23:30:00]