Seminole Towne Center

Seminole Towne Center

Seminole Towne Center, located in Sanford, Florida, opened its doors on September 22, 1995. Developed by Simon Property Group, the mall was strategically positioned at the intersection of Interstate 4 and State Road 46, aiming to serve shoppers from Seminole, Lake, and Volusia counties.

Proposition and Planning

In the late 1980s, northern Seminole County was on the radar for major commercial development. Its strategic location at the intersection of Interstate 4 (I-4) and State Road 46 (SR-46), along with a rapidly growing suburban population, made it an attractive site for a regional shopping center.

During this time, three proposals emerged for a mall in the area. Among them was a bold plan by Melvin Simon & Associates (now Simon Property Group), which envisioned a 1.2 million square foot enclosed mall. This was just the beginning of a larger master plan that included a hotel and office complex, aiming to create a full-scale retail and business hub in Sanford.

In September 1990, the mall concept gained momentum when Dillard’s—a department store chain that had recently arrived in Central Florida through the acquisition of Ivey’s—agreed to become an anchor tenant. The project was officially named Seminole Towne Center.

To facilitate the development, the City of Sanford approved $6.3 million in municipal bonds to upgrade the surrounding roads. These funds were to be repaid via a tax increment financing (TIF) district, a public-private partnership strategy. Additionally, Simon contributed $500,000 to the City of Lake Mary to widen a key nearby road.

Initial plans called for construction to begin in 1991, with the mall opening in the summer of 1993. However, the early 1990s recession delayed financing, pushing back the project. It wasn’t until 1993 that Simon secured the necessary funding, and the official groundbreaking took place on September 9, 1993.

Grand Opening and Tenants

JCPenney and Burdines were the first anchor stores to open on September 1, 1995, followed by the mall’s grand opening ceremony on September 22, 1995.

The first two anchor stores—JCPenney and Burdines—opened on September 1, 1995, while the official grand opening for the full mall was held on September 22, 1995.

Seminole Towne Center launched with over 150 specialty retailers, a food court, and a two-level interior layout with escalators and wide corridors. Among the most talked-about debut tenants was Parisian, a luxury department store making its first appearance in Central Florida. Other major retailers included Aéropostale, Ann Taylor, Brookstone, The Disney Store, Everything But Water, Franklin Quest, The Gap, The Limited, Littman’s, and Talbots. A regional TV campaign supported the mall’s launch with the catchy jingle: “Shop a new mall, mall.” The buzz was strong—an estimated 200,000 people visited during its opening weekend.

Heyday and Local Impact

Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, Seminole Towne Center thrived as the premier indoor shopping destination in northern Seminole and western Volusia counties. It provided high-end and mid-market options for residents, drawing shoppers from Deltona, Lake Mary, and DeLand.

The mall played a significant role in shaping Sanford’s economic development, bringing jobs, tax revenue, and regional attention. It also helped spur adjacent commercial growth, including big-box retailers, restaurants, hotels, and automotive dealerships.

Decline Begins

By the late 2000s, Seminole Towne Center began to experience a noticeable decline in business. The effects of the Great Recession, combined with growing competition from nearby power centers and lifestyle developments, significantly impacted foot traffic and retail sales.

In an effort to revitalize the mall and attract a more resilient consumer base, management launched a strategy to bring in higher-end retailers aimed at shoppers less affected by economic downturns. This initiative introduced brands like Buckle, Coach, Coldwater Creek, Hollister, Tillys, and Zumiez, reflecting a shift toward trend-conscious and premium offerings.

A major development occurred in 2009 when H&M, the Swedish fast-fashion giant, announced that it would open its first two Florida locations—one at Seminole Towne Center and another at The Florida Mall, also owned by Simon Property Group. The Seminole Towne Center H&M spanned 20,000 square feet, taking over space formerly occupied by Ann Taylor and Charlotte Russe. The store officially opened on October 15, 2009, and was seen as a key step in modernizing the mall’s retail mix.

However, not all changes were expansions. In 2010, Belk announced it would be closing its location at the mall that October. The anchor space remained vacant for two years until new tenants were secured. In February 2012, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would open in the upper level of the former Belk space, bringing a popular sporting goods retailer into the mix. A few months later, in June 2012, Burlington (formerly Burlington Coat Factory) announced plans to move into the lower level of the same building, filling out the space with a value-oriented retail presence.

Also in 2012, Sears revealed it would be downsizing its operations at Seminole Towne Center. The retailer closed its clothing department and shuttered the entire lower floor of its two-level anchor store. The upper level remained open, but the reduction signaled continuing struggles for traditional department stores at the mall.

Ownership Changes and Decline

On May 28, 2014, Simon Property Group executed a major corporate restructuring, spinning off 98 of its lower-performing and smaller retail properties, including Seminole Towne Center, into a newly formed entity called Washington Prime Group. At the time of the transition, Seminole Towne Center maintained a relatively strong 90% occupancy rate, though signs of decline were beginning to show.

In 2016, the mall adapted part of its underutilized space for non-traditional retail use. Approximately 20,000 square feet of retail area near Macy’s was repurposed into Athletic Apex, a state-of-the-art fitness center, marking an early attempt to diversify beyond conventional retail tenants.

Despite these efforts, the mall faced further setbacks. On May 31, 2018, Sears announced it would close 63 underperforming stores nationwide, including its long-standing location at Seminole Towne Center. The store officially closed on September 2, 2018, leaving a significant vacancy.

Just two years later, on January 7, 2020, Macy’s—another anchor tenant—announced it would also be closing its store at the mall as part of a broader corporate downsizing plan. With both Sears and Macy’s gone, Seminole Towne Center was left with two major anchor spaces vacant, accelerating its decline and raising questions about its long-term viability as a traditional mall.

Sale to Kohan and 4th Dimension Properties

In March 2020, Washington Prime Group sold Seminole Towne Center for $52.3 million to Seminole Mall Realty Holding, a joint venture between Kohan Retail Investment Group and 4th Dimension Properties. As the majority stakeholder, Kohan assumed responsibility for the mall’s day-to-day operations.

Shortly after the sale, in April 2020, the mall played a public health role during the COVID-19 pandemic when AdventHealth established a drive-through testing site on the property, temporarily increasing traffic to the location.

Efforts to repurpose anchor spaces continued into the following year. In February 2022, the long-vacant former Sears building was transformed into Elev8 Fun, a large-scale family entertainment center featuring arcade games, bowling, go-karts, miniature golf, billiards, and other attractions—an attempt to pivot the mall toward experience-based offerings.

Despite this, signs of decline persisted. In late 2022, Burlington closed its store at the mall and relocated to a nearby power center. The former Burlington space was briefly reactivated in 2023 as a Spirit Halloween pop-up store, underscoring the increasingly seasonal nature of the mall’s tenant activity.

Financial issues soon followed. In June 2023, it was revealed that the mall had failed to pay $824,020 in property taxes for the 2022 tax year, placing it at risk of foreclosure. According to the Orlando Business Journal, Seminole Towne Center was one of five Kohan-owned or co-owned properties with significant tax delinquencies.

By late February 2024, the situation worsened when Florida Power & Light disconnected the mall’s electricity for two days due to unpaid utility bills. Although anchor stores remained operational—each had independent power connections—the outage further signaled the mall’s deteriorating conditions.

In a pivotal move, 4th Dimension Properties bought out Kohan’s share of the mall in May 2024 for an undisclosed sum. At the time, the mall’s occupancy rate had dropped to 79%, and its tax debt had ballooned to $1.6 million, which 4th Dimension promptly paid off.

Following the acquisition, 4th Dimension announced plans to repair the mall’s air conditioning systems and escalators while also working to attract new tenants and restore shopper confidence. However, despite these efforts, the mall’s overall condition and reputation continued to decline.

Redevelopment Plans

Following its acquisition of Seminole Towne Center, Kohan Retail Investment Group began exploring redevelopment opportunities for underutilized parts of the property. Among the efforts was marketing three parcels of land, including the former Macy’s building, for potential conversion into multifamily residential developments.

In 2021, The Altman Companies, a Florida-based real estate developer, announced plans to purchase one of the parcels to construct a 350-unit apartment complex. However, the deal fell through the following year, and Altman withdrew from the project.

A similar proposal resurfaced in 2023 when Picerne Real Estate Group expressed interest in developing the former Macy’s site into a residential community. That same year, Elev8 Fun, which operated out of the former Sears space, revealed plans to expand its footprint by building a hotel on a portion of the adjacent parking lot, a parcel the company independently owned.

Momentum toward large-scale redevelopment accelerated in September 2024, when the City of Sanford announced that Gilbane Development Company had entered into a purchase contract for the mall property. With plans to transform the site into a modern mixed-use destination, Gilbane eventually withdrew from the agreement, though the sale process continued with other interested investors.

On January 8, 2025, it was officially announced that Seminole Towne Center would permanently close its interior operations on January 31, with demolition scheduled to begin in March. The redevelopment plan calls for a dynamic mix of new features, including apartments, restaurants (notably California Pizza Kitchen), a movie theater, and a Costco wholesale store. Despite the closure of the main mall, the four remaining anchor tenants—Dillard’s, JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Elev8 Fun—will remain open and operational throughout the redevelopment process, integrating into the future vision of the site.

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