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Scott Fish: Orlando Fashion Square is "coming back to life" - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel

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Scott Fish: Orlando Fashion Square is "coming back to life" - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel

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Scott Fish, 50, a principal with UP Development, which has recently purchased and plans to redevelop Orlando Fashion Square. UP's other Orlando projects include Shoppes at Alafaya Trail and Millenia Plaza. Orlando Fashion Square is its first mall project. Fish recently spoke with Sentinel staff writer Sandra Pedicini.
CFB: Can you give an update on the development? What is it going to look like?
The Colonial side will be the high turnover, casual dining and lodging experience. That will transition up the corridor along Macy's into our urban retail section. We have ordered a basketball court and are placing that in the courtyard near Barnie's and are relocating Vans and our shoe retailers up that corridor. That will transition into the JCPenney corridor where the movie theater is. There will be an activity area themed upstairs with the movie theater. We signed a deal with PrimeTime Amusements to do a Hershey's shake shop and arcade. We have ordered the equipment and lanes for 12 lanes of bowling. That will involve relocating the comic book store into the former Rack Room shoes area.

We're in the middle of a $400,000 exterior landscaping project. We have lit the center up, both the exterior and interior. We replaced over 400 bulbs and fixtures. It' starting to come back to life.
CFB: It says on your website BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse is opening at Orlando Fashion Square. Is that definite?
They go to real estate committee for their final approval [this] week. They've visited the site, and we anticipate a favorable response from their committee. [They've signed] a letter of intent. [A letter of intent is a precursor to a lease.]
CFB: Where do plans for a hotel stand?
The plans for the hotel have been submitted to Starwood. The package has received approval for the brand. We have submitted our preliminary application to the city for that approval as well.
CFB: Has Starwood signed a letter of intent as well?
Yes. It's going to be 127 rooms.
CFB: Who's going to stay in this hotel? There aren't any other hotels in the area.
We have a great executive airport directly across the street from us. There's literally thousands of office jobs within a three-mile radius of the mall without a hotel to serve them. Our current tenants that have their regional and district meetings will now be able to have a place to hold those. They can stay here without putting additional rental cars on the streets. You have the Veteran's Administration hospital behind us and no hotel to serve them, either.
CFB: What other tenants are you actively in discussions with right now?
We are finalizing with Papaya, the high-end women's clothier. We have renewed with Dillard's, JCPenney. We are negotiating a relocation of Pearle Vision, with some of the tenants in front of the mall to create access to the hotel. We are renewing with Panera. They will do a remodel of their store in the near future. We signed a lease with BB&T for the corner of [State Road] 50 and Herndon.
CFB: What attracted you to Orlando Fashion Square?
The location. It's in the center of the city. It also had excellent access to downtown and obviously great access to Baldwin and Winter Park.
CFB: Why do you think the area has struggled so much? A lot of businesses have closed.
I think the economic downturn affected everybody, particularly the middle markets of America got hit first and hardest. I also think those are coming back first. There's an unbelievable amount of new tenants coming to this market. Our marketing efforts have been met with positive feedback from all the retailers we're speaking with. The downturn caught up just when Baldwin Park and some of these other areas were maturing, and it's an infill market for us. We're starting to see the benefit of the recovery in the economy.

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Scott Fish, 50, a principal with UP Development, which has recently purchased and plans to redevelop Orlando Fashion Square. UP's other Orlando projects include Shoppes at Alafaya Trail and Millenia Plaza. Orlando Fashion Square is its first mall project. Fish recently spoke with Sentinel staff writer Sandra Pedicini.

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New Orlando Fashion Square owner dishes on tenants, redevelopment plans - Orlando Business Journal

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New Orlando Fashion Square owner dishes on tenants, redevelopment plans - Orlando Business Journal

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Scott Fish is looking forward to seeing Orlando Fashion Square mall on Colonial Avenue near downtown Orlando transformed.

Fish, principal of Franklin, Tenn.-based UP Development Inc., talked with me about what's being planned for the $25 million-plus redevelopment of the mall, which his firm took over for $35 million on Feb. 12.

Clermont-based Schmid Construction Inc. was named the project general contractor, as I told you earlier this week, and it's awaiting permits to begin demolition on parcels adjacent to the mall - soon to be redeveloped into a BB&T Bank branch.

UP Development also plans to put a 24-Hour Fitness gym, either in the existing shuttered Toys "R" Us space just outside the mall or on a vacant parcel, and is in "very early" talks with BJ's Restaurant, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and H&M.

Though it's unknown whether those deals will go through, Fish said several other deals likely will become more solid once the firm attends next week's International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Tampa.

"We'd rather let the redevelopment speak for itself, rather than make promises we can't keep," he said.

There's also some activity already happening inside the mall, Fish told me.

For example, Rack Room Shoes has started construction to nearly double its existing space to 12,000 square feet, a new independently owned restaurant called Mo's Sandwich Shop was added to the food court upstairs, All Cell opened in a 1,224-square-foot space and National University online college took 1,300 square feet, all deals that were signed during UP Development's due diligence period.

The National Entrepreneur Center also is looking at expanding its existing 21,000-square-foot space in the mall. The center signed a five-year lease in 2010 for the mall space.

Meanwhile, UP Development renewed anchor tenants JCPenney, whose term was set to expire next month, and Dillard's, which added another five years to its lease. Macy's is on an existing long-term lease and Zales is in negotiations to renew its lease.

Additionally, Fish said he's in talks with Sears - which owns its own portion of the mall - to form a possible joint venture to redevelop a piece of that property.

Fish also is in talks with an entertainment venue, including a bowling alley, arcade and restaurant, that could be combined into one space or two.

And that's not all. UP Development also is converting the south and north mall entry areas into customer service gathering areas with big-screen TVs and seating, the firm has added WiFi in the mall through Bright House Networks and is putting together an interactive children's play area and upgrading the mall's west side.

As if that wasn't enough, Fish said his firm also is in talks with a hotel user - who visited the development last week - and is deciding between two apartment developers. UP Development likely will be a partner in both of those projects, which could start construction in two years.

What are your thoughts on the mall's new owner and plans? Leave a comment below or e-mail me.

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New Orlando Fashion Square owner dishes on tenants, redevelopment plans - Orlando Business Journal

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Scott Fish is looking forward to seeing Orlando Fashion Square mall on Colonial Avenue near downtown Orlando transformed. Fish, principal of Franklin, Tenn.-based UP Development Inc., talked with me about what's being planned for the $25 million-plus redevelopment of the mall, which his firm took over for $35 million on Feb.