Demolition Of University Mall Sears Makes Way For Uptown District

TAMPA, FL — As demolition gets underway on the old Sears store at University Mall, RD Management and Tampa's Innovation Partnership will host a public gathering at the mall Thursday, Jan. 16 at 11 a.m. to answer questions regarding the next steps in the in Uptown Districtdevelopment plan.

The project is located in a federally designated Opportunity Zone and transition the mall property from traditional retail uses to an "Innovation Community" with a focus on academic, scientific and technology uses.

"The approximately 100-acre Uptown project will become a multi-story, urban neighborhood development showcasing life sciences and technology research institutes and complexes; retail, place-making, and recreational opportunities and entertainment; hospitality; education; medical specialties, clinics, and pavilions; corporate offices and co-working spaces; and residential and other related uses," said Richard Birdoff, principal and president of RD Management.

Birdoff said the traditional indoor mall will make way for a vibrant mixed-use city center.

See related stories:

• Transformation Of University Mall Into Urban Village To Begin
• Residents Invited To Learn More About Uptown Revival Plans

Preliminary plans for the former Sears store includes up to one million square feet of new office space; capacity for up to 400 hotel rooms, 1,000 apartment units and 100,000 square feet of street-level restaurants, shops, fitness and experiential concepts; redevelopment of the lake front at the back of the property; and a greenway pedestrian/bike trail and shuttle bus connection along the lake to the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital campus to the north and the University of South Florida campus to the east.

The University Area, re-branded as "Uptown" by the Tampa Innovation Partnership, comprises 25,000 acres in north Tampa bound by Busch Boulevard on the south, Bearss Avenue on the north, and interstates 75 and 275 on the east and west. It includes parts of Tampa, Temple Terrace and unincorporated Hillsborough County.

Once given the derogatory moniker, Suitcase City, the areas is undergoing a revival following a period of urban decay in the 1970s and '80s.

After being awarded a $3.8 million federal grant to expand tech training for young adults, it is one of a few nationally designated TechHire communities, poised to be transformed into one of the region's technology hubs and start-up incubators.

Additionally, the area is one of four in Hillsborough County eligible for redevelopment incentives designed to encourage office and industrial redevelopment for infill and to redevelop obsolete structures.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has designated several census tracts within Uptown as Opportunity Zones. These areas provide an incentive for investment and development through tax deferment and other benefits.

The home of USF, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Institute and Research Center, Busch Gardens, the VA Hospital, AdventHealth Tampa and Anheuser Busch, the area already employs 74,000 jobs at 4,100 companies and attracts four million tourists annually.