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A Virginia company runs into opposition from area malls and nearby residents, but leaves open the possibility of another site.
By DAVID KARP
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000
TAMPA -- More than a year ago, a Virginia-based shopping mall developer stormed into town with an ambitious plan:
The Mills Corp. wanted to relocate the Florida State Fair and build the region's largest shopping mall in its place at no cost to the public.
But Tuesday, with approvals taking longer than expected, the company decided to drop its proposal to build a 1.4-million-square-foot outlet mall on the fairgrounds in east Hillsborough County.
In a letter to the fair authority, the company said it would suspend its discussions to build the $200-million mall, along with a 200-room hotel, on the fair's prime 319-acre location by Interstate 4 and U.S. 301.
Mills officials had wanted to relocate the fairgrounds to south Hillsborough and open their mall on the fairgrounds site by 2002.
Instead, they ran into opposition from rival shopping mall developers and residents. Fair authority chairman and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner also insisted on scrutinizing the deal to protect the public's interests.
"I am neither disappointed, nor am I happy," Steinbrenner said Tuesday. "I hope they feel, as I do, that they were treated fairly and given a fair opportunity. I am ready to get on with the state fair right where it is."
Steinbrenner said Mills had "behaved in a very proper manner" throughout the talks. The company agreed to pay the fair $18,720 for attorney fees and planned to reimburse executive director Rick Vymlatil for time spent on the deal, Vymlatil said.
Mills vice president Erick Collazo could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but in his letter, he left open the possibility that Mills might find another spot for an outlet mall in Tampa. He said the company views the Tampa Bay area as "a primary market."
"We look forward to becoming your neighbor in the future," Collazo wrote.
Mills originally had an option to build the mall on 350 acres east of Interstate 75 in Wesley Chapel. On Tuesday, the property's owner said he would welcome Mills back to Pasco County.
"It gives us a lot of hope -- false hope probably," property owner Harry Rice said.
Besides the Pasco land, Mills had identified other Hillsborough sites in addition to the fairgrounds, Collazo said last year. The fair site was the best location, but it was also the most difficult to develop.
"In Florida, trying to put a private, public transaction together requires going through a certain amount of hoops and certain amount of scrutiny," said Anthony Collins, a consultant for shopping mall developers. "A lot of developers look at that and take a pass."
Fair authority member Joe Voskerichian said Mills didn't anticipate the fair authority's close scrutiny.
"They thought it would be a slam dunk, and it wasn't," he said.
Mills faced problems from the start. The company hired lobbyist William Rubin days after he stepped down as a member of the fair board to push for a change in state law that would have allowed Mills to bypass development regulations. After the Times reported on the proposal, Rubin resigned as Mills' lobbyist.
Then, a lobbyist for the developer of the Brandon TownCenter began working with residents to kill the Mills' deal. The proposed Mills mall would have become a competitor for the mall in Brandon.
Longtime fair board members, led by businessman Bob Thomas, also didn't want to give up the fair's prime site.
"It makes me very happy," fair authority member Olin Mott said of the news. "I could not see giving up that place for another shopping center."
But others were not as pleased. County Commissioner Chris Hart said the mall would have been a major economic boon. Company officials had estimated that a new mall would become a major tourist attraction, generating $2.2-million in sales taxes a year, $3.9-million in property taxes and $65-million in wages.
The money from the Mills deal would have allowed the fair to build a modern, new complex rather than renovate its 20-year-old facilities, Hart said.
"I am willing to bet that people from the state fair will be going to the Legislature asking of millions of dollars for improvements," he said.