1995–1998: Development and opening Oviedo Marketplace was originally proposed as
The Marketplace at Oviedo Crossings, but Rouse scaled down the plan from larger ambitions following community and governmental input, including approval by the
Seminole County Commission in September 1995 when Win Adams voted against the project, citing concerns about traffic congestion. The first retail development on the site was a
Target store, which opened in October 1994.
Oviedo was previously characterized by celery farms and orange groves.
The Rouse Company began construction of the 830,000-square-foot enclosed mall in March 1996, with the importation of over 80,000 tons of dirt to create the foundation for the mall and parking areas.
Elbasani & Logan Architects (ELS) was selected as the architect for the project, aimed at revitalizing Oviedo following the growing population of the city. Construction for the
Gayfers department store was scheduled to begin on December 16, 1996. However, The Rouse Company also noted that Oviedo Marketplace would continue to be a work progress, as more than 80 stores were still under construction, and that more than 20% of the stores would potentially not be ready on opening day. At opening, the mall was approximately 80% leased and anchored by Gayfers and
Dillard's department stores, along with a 22-screen
Regal Cinemas theater. Early tenants included
Barnes & Noble, a
Foot Locker superstore, and
f.y.e. Anchor changes and early struggles In September 1998, less than a year after opening, the Gayfers location was sold to
Proffitt's, Inc., the company that owns
Parisian following Dillard's acquisition of Gayfers' parent company, Mercantile Stores, Inc. and a related divestment agreement to avoid Dillard's from duplicating itself in Oviedo Marketplace. The Gayfers store reopened as Parisian on October 4, 1998. The Rouse Company expanded Oviedo Mall in the early 2000s; specifically,
Sears opened a 110,000-square-foot store in November 2000, with 80,000 square feet of selling space, becoming Oviedo Mall's third anchor store. However, Parisian closed its Oviedo Marketplace location in July 2000 due to poor sales, and the former space was sold to
Burdines, a local department store in
Florida, which opened in November 2000. Following
Federated Department Stores' 2000s decision to consolidate all of its individual department stores into
Macy's (except for
Bloomingdale's), the store was later rebranded Burdines–Macy's on January 30, 2004. Federated then dropped the Burdines name entirely on March 6, 2005, and the Oviedo Marketplace store was converted to
Macy's.
2000–2017: Ownership changes and tenant evolution Oviedo Marketplace struggled with low occupancy for much of its history due to factors including its relatively small footprint, competition from the
Seminole Towne Center, newer malls like the 1.3-million-square-foot
Altamonte Mall and nearby 1.1-million-square-foot
Waterford Lakes Town Center which opened in October 2000, exterior-facing entrances for some tenants that reduced interior foot traffic, and broader declines in enclosed mall retail.
General Growth Properties (GGP), a
Chicago-based real-estate firm, acquired The Rouse Company in November 2004 and assumed ownership of Oviedo Marketplace.
Bed Bath & Beyond relocated to an exterior site in 2009, citing the oversized nature of its interior space. During GGP's
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they sold the mall to CW Capital, a
Los Angeles-based private real-estate firm, in 2010, and the property was renamed
Oviedo Mall in June 2011 to better align with local branding and revitalization efforts. In 2012, John Paul Mitchell Systems opened a cosmetology school at the mall, occupying space originally intended for restaurant use. CW Capital sold the property to
3D Investments in March 2013. The former Bed Bath & Beyond space was later redeveloped into a
gym, children's
fitness facility, and O2B Kids preschool and afterschool center around 2013. On February 16, 2017, 3D Investments sold Oviedo Mall to
International Growth Properties (IGP) for $15.35 million. IGP promised renovations and new retailers to address ongoing vacancies. Earlier that year, Macy's closed its Oviedo Mall store permanently, as part of a plan to close 68 underperforming stores nationwide. == Redevelopment ==