JENSEN BEACH — Simon Property Group, the owner of Treasure Coast Square, distanced itself from a conceptual redevelopment plan that envisions demolishing half of the mall to create a walkable, mixed-use district.
“Simon had no involvement in developing or approving this study,” said Simon Property Group spokesperson Sam Wisniewski in a May 21 statement to TCPalm. “While there are always additions of new tenants and concepts to the property, there is no large-scale redevelopment planned.”
A recently surfaced conceptual plan, developed by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council from 2023-2025 at the request of Martin County officials, blindsided tenants at the mall — such as employees at Macy’s, an anchor store the plan suggested demolishing and replacing with an amphitheater and apartments.
If enacted, the conceptual plan calls for removing roughly half the available commercial space at the mall.
The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, however, received “collaborative input” from Simon Property Group, according to the conceptual plan. The council provided a market analysis and created conceptual renderings, while acknowledging that the “concept has not yet been confirmed or fully documented” by the company.
“We did work pretty closely with the Simon mall representative,” said Dana Little, the council’s urban design director, in a May 19 interview. “Simon came up with the idea of the plaza concept” — the idea of replacing the air-conditioned interior with tree-line-shaded streets and courtyards.
Martin County commissioned the study after Simon Property Group representatives expressed interest in developing residential units at Treasure Coast Square, Little said.
The company suggested parceling off and selling sub-sections of its 85-acre property, but Martin County officials preferred keeping the property whole and wanted to explore potential redevelopment scenarios, Little said.
“If the time is ever right and if the circumstances are such that the owners want to redevelop, here are some samples of what that could look like,” Little said. “There was never any intention to create concern with the tenants.”
Redevelopment at the mall would be an expensive undertaking for Simon Property Group, but it would be more financially feasible if greater residential density was allowed, Little said.
Martin County officials emphasized the conceptual plan has received no approval from commissioners, and there has been no formal application submitted.
“The county’s 2023 study was a long-term planning exercise intended to explore a range of potential scenarios, not a proposed or approved redevelopment plan,” said Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson in a statement. “Any future discussions regarding the site would involve extensive collaboration with Simon, community stakeholders and local leaders.”
“Treasure Coast Square is thriving and is more than 97% leased,” Wisniewski said. “Simon continues to invest in the property and remains fully committed to supporting our retailers, shoppers and the community.”
Ron Gustafson, who owns MVP Sports Cards at the mall, disagrees.
Treasure Coast Square has a “we could care less” attitude, Gustafson said. There have been ongoing flooding issues at his storefront since he opened for business, he said.
“When it rains outside, it rains inside the unit,” Gustafson said. “Flooding everywhere. We have high-end Pokémon cards that we’ve had to move.”
The mall is plagued by a combination of aging infrastructure, poor management and lack of marketing, he said.
Gustafson was informed of Simon Property Group’s recent announcement that denied involvement in the redevelopment concept and claimed no redevelopment is coming.
“I don’t believe a word they told you,” he said.
Jack Randall is TCPalm’s economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at jack.randall@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida mall disavows Martin County concept of demolition, apartments
Reporting by Jack Randall, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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