ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Fashion Square Mall is no longer the hotspot it once was.

“It's just been sitting empty for the last four to five years,” said George Lane, a former mall security guard. He said the parking lot was full of cars while he was on duty.

“When I was working here four years ago, I heard there were plans to build condos and also apartments here,” Lane said.

Lane said he has heard dozens of plans to revitalize the area over the years, but none have come to fruition.

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“This has been going on in the community for so many years. I don’t think Fashion Square or Macy’s shouldn’t go,” Lane said.

Now that the mall is up for sale, people are hoping it will become something new and regain its former glory. The mall first opened in 1973.

“We have a lot of shopping centers. This needs to be something different that serves the community in a different way. Also, increase the value so we can increase tax revenue,” said Barney McAuley.

Edge Capital Markets, a Dallas-based real estate brokerage firm, is helping the owners sell the two-story, 625,000-square-foot shopping center.

Managing director Barney McAuley believes this is an opportunity for three future owners to create a $500 million mixed-use project, a combination of hotels, restaurants, apartments and more.

“There are about 20 groups nationally that are buying these types of malls, reinventing them and turning them into something different. “This mall was the center of this community 20 years ago and they are doing things to make it the center of their community again,” McAuley said.

McAuley said 550 of the 1,000 malls across America will become mixed-use developments because of the growing need in their communities.

He said it typically takes five months to sell a building like Fashion Square Mall, but because of the holiday season, it could take six to seven months.

A look at previous plans for Fashion Square

Efforts to remodel or redesign the Orlando Fashion Square Mall have been going on for a decade, perhaps longer.

That includes efforts to transform the mall into a space for local businesses or a multi-use location with bowling and other activities.

In 2013, crews were scheduled to break ground on an Element by Westin Hotel as part of a renovation project that would include a family entertainment area and new restaurants such as BJ's Brewhouse, Outback and Red Robin.

In 2019, Chuck Whittall, president of Unicorp National Developments, put down a deposit on a $23 million deal for nearly 50 acres of land beneath the mall, saying he wanted to tear it down and turn it into a mixed-use open-air entertainment space convert.

Then in 2021, lawyers for Bancorp, which owns the mall itself, filed to redevelop it into a mixed-use property that would retain the anchor stores but demolish the center structure to create outdoor commercial space as well as a hotel and up to 1,400 apartments. giving it a similar feel to Winter Park Village.

In December 2021, the Orlando City Council approved Bancorp's Master Framework Plan.

However, there has been no progress since then.

According to Orange County Property Appraiser records, the address where the mall is located is owned by the Fashion Square Land Trust, which is managed by Unicorp.

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