Hernando: Mall finds niche, still growing

They were there in the beginning. "I didn't think it was going to come to fruition because the demographics showed there weren't enough people to support it," said Helen Spivey, who served on the Crystal River City Council when the mall plans were announced in 1988.

They were there after the doors opened. "At some point in the past I had wondered if it was ever going to make it," said Ed Tolle, a Crystal River businessman and real estate expert.

And the doubters are there even today. "It's kind of like a funny joke. I say it's not a mall, it's like an indoor plaza," said Courtney Holcombe, who graduated from Crystal River High School this year and now attends Stetson University.

But this month, even skeptics must give the mall its due.

This shopping center, the one with the white fiberglass fabric tents over the food court, the one with the vacant outparcels that are oh-so-ready for an Olive Garden or Red Lobster, the one with the paltry daytime foot traffic and frequently listless feel, has reached its 10th anniversary.

In fact, no matter what some shoppers say, managers maintain that the place has downright flourished.

The Crystal River Mall opened its doors in October 1990. It was a scaled-down version of the classic mall, Edward J. DeBartolo Corp.'s prototype for shopping centers in smaller markets.

"Mr. DeBartolo was a bit of a visionary," said Helena Martensen, regional marketing director for Simon Property Group, which now owns the mall. He "had an uncanny knack for forecasting future areas of growth. And his crystal ball told him Crystal River was going to be an area of" growth.

The Property Appraiser's Office assessed the mall property at $24.5-million this year, 3 percent more than the 1999 assessment. That might seem modest, but consider that the assessment dropped 13 percent between 1994 and '98, a reflection of declining store occupancy rates.

The mall always had the basics: department stores, a hair salon, a bookstore, a music store, places to buy organs and jewelry and expensive sneakers.

The first step up in stature came in 1998, when Regal Cinema built a nine-screen theater inside the mall. That increased the mall's value in the government's calculations.

In fact, the mall owners thought Property Appraiser Ron Schultz and his staff gave them too much credit, and thus filed a legal challenge to decrease the assessment. The issue was resolved in mediation.

"The movie theaters were a coup," Schultz said.

But the theater wasn't the only factor that led to an increased assessment. The Property Appraiser's Office reviews proprietary business information that the public doesn't see. Those figures showed Schultz's staff that the mall, now 10 years old, has reached the stability it had hoped to achieve on its fifth birthday.

"It seems like it's gelling a little," said Les Cook, chief commercial appraiser in Schultz's office.

Other growth to come

Of course, the mall was supposed to be just half the picture. If DeBartolo thought enough of this market to build a $13-million mall here, then other big corporations certainly would follow suit, wouldn't they?

Welcome, Chili's. Welcome, Outback Steakhouse. Don't all malls attract such development?

Not this one. At least, not yet. An office supply store opened just outside the mall, but "for sale" signs remain prevalent.

"I'm not aware of any discussion going on about those outparcels at all. Certainly we'd love to see them fill up," Martensen said. "It's been very controlled growth instead of overnight growth. And I think that has helped."

Does the lack of development constitute a "no confidence" vote in the area's commercial viability?

"Maybe we're just a little bit ahead of the game still," Martensen said.

The assessed value of the vacant outparcels dropped 7 percent to 10 percent in 1998 but have steadied since then, records showed.

The issue leads to the inevitable chicken-and-egg question: Will the mall attract chain restaurants once its traffic increases, or will the traffic increase only after the mall attracts chain restaurants?

Geography plays a key role. People who live in Sugarmill Woods, for example, can head south, where they will find a shopping mall in Pasco County plus a variety of other places to eat and shop.

And what about Beverly Hills or Pine Ridge? If people there don't mind driving north instead of west, and don't mind a few extra minutes in the car, they can head to Ocala, where the Paddock Mall is surrounded by the top-name chain eateries.

"Retirement communities in general tend to make shopping an expedition," Schultz said. "If they (mall management) can . . . attract Sugarmill there instead of turning south . . . then they're a booming success."

The Suncoast Parkway might factor into this mix, as well. The road will end at U.S. 98 just south of Citrus, leading extra traffic onto U.S. 19's northbound lanes.

John Crider, a Crystal River attorney, has been involved in this project as long as any Citrus resident. He helped secure the myriad permits necessary for construction.

Crider doesn't worry about people comparing Crystal River with bigger shopping centers or ones with more restaurants at the ready.

"The mall has provided a real source of wholesome recreation for all the people," he said. "It may not be the only place to go, but it certainly gives you a choice."

But there are other ways to keep score.

Spivey, for example, was concerned from Day One about environmental issues. She said as much to Dick Greco, the Tampa mayor who, at the time, was the DeBartolo point man on this project.

The city responded to those concerns and built a state-of-the-art stormwater system that Spivey praises even today. She is less enamored of the paved parking, which she says is too abundant and came at too high a price, environmentally speaking.

"I still think about the gopher tortoises lying under the pavement," Spivey said. "But the stormwater has worked very well. I think all that pavement is not necessary. The only time those parking lots are filled is Christmas and Thanksgiving, the days before and after."

Still after a spark

Many people say that, despite management's cheerful reports and rosy predictions, the mall just doesn't have any spark, except around holiday time.

Last week, during early afternoon hours on two weekdays, the corridors and food court were quiet as a church. A food vendor glanced through the newspaper, with no customers to serve and all the busy work, such as wiping counters, already finished. The noisy arcade had exactly one customer.

John Stokes, 72, has lived in Crystal River the past 10 years. He visits the mall once a month, when he picks up prescription medication at the Kmart pharmacy.

From time to time, Stokes will wander into the mall's other stores.

One afternoon last week, he was headed to Sears to check out refrigerators.

But those visits are the exception, not the rule. Stokes doesn't shop for clothes -- or much of anything else -- at the mall just a few minutes from his home.

What about younger people? Certainly they crowd the shopping center.

Not exactly. Holcombe, the Crystal River graduate and current college freshman, said Citrus teens generally don't regard the mall as a good place to hang out, mostly because it's small and lacks the kinds of specialty stores -- Old Navy, the Gap, Banana Republic -- that appeal to young shoppers.

Students from middle schools and ninth grade might be found loafing at the mall.

But if upperclassmen visit, it's probably "to go see a movie or to see someone who's working," Holcombe said.

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