From today's Orlando Sentinel is the long-awaited news that Festival Bay, at the top of I-Drive, is finally nearing completion. Here's the story in full:
By Sarah Hale
Sentinel Staff Writer
February 7, 2003
Construction crews at Festival Bay at International Drive are scurrying to finish the long-delayed mall before its April 3 debut -- almost three years later than initially planned.
Workers at the shopping center this week were busy installing fixtures, adding detail to the mall's streetscape decor and fine-tuning a man-made outdoor pond that appears to flow indoors, under a bridge and into the mall's center. The pond puts the "bay" in Festival Bay.
It has been almost five years since developers with Memphis, Tenn.-based Belz Enterprises first unveiled plans for the 1.1 million-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex, just southeast of Belz Factory Outlet World in southwest Orange County.
Since then, pieces of the mall, including key anchor tenants Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Van's Skatepark and a 20-screen Cinemark movie theater, have opened in phases.
Belz officials always planned to connect the anchor tenants by building phase two of the complex -- or the heart and soul of the mall, including a handful of restaurants and a couple dozen specialty shops. Because of construction permit delays and rumored financing difficulties, it took longer than expected to get the project off the ground.
"We're opening in April," Andy Groveman, Belz's executive vice president, said on Thursday. "Everybody is eager to get to the market as quickly as possible."
At one point, the company was shooting for a spring 2000 opening, which got bumped to spring 2001. Later officials anticipated a fourth-quarter 2002 debut.
Adding to the delay, officials had difficulty securing tenants because of the weak retail market and overall economic uncertainty, Groveman said. The October opening of the upscale Mall at Millenia, just four miles west of Festival Bay, also was a factor.
Although Groveman said the mall should open at about 70 percent occupancy, the mall "did not lease up as quickly as we anticipated," he said.
What helped attract tenants, though, is the mall's colorful Florida-Caribbean design and unique lineup of anchor stores. In addition to the stores that are already open, Cocoa Beach's Ron Jon Surf Shop, Shepler's Western Wear and Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, all firsts to the Orlando market, will also open in the mall.
Shepler's is a Wichita, Kan.-based western and equestrian wear chain, while Steve and Barry's, a collegiate apparel and merchandiser, is based in Great Neck, N.Y.
Other Festival Bay tenants include Putting Edge, an indoor, glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course; Storyville, a 20,000-square-foot bookstore; and retailers such as Journey's, BCBG, Pacific Sunwear and Charlotte Russe.
At one point, Ann Taylor Loft, Bath & Body Works, Victoria's Secret and F.Y.E., the entertainment store, were also said to be tenants, but officials would not confirm their presence in the mall.
"This mall was designed to meet the needs of our local customers," Groveman said. ". . . There is something here for everybody -- even dads, grandfathers and teens."
Finding a niche in the Orlando market, which is already becoming saturated with retail shopping malls, could be difficult for Festival Bay to do, said John Crossman, senior vice president of retail services with Trammell Crow Co., a commercial real estate firm.
Crossman said that the mall's unique lineup of stores and strong local Belz brand recognition could be a recipe for success. However, the company would need to do a better job of marketing itself to local residents.
Unlike the Mall at Millenia, which is at Conroy Road and Interstate 4, Festival Bay is tucked between International Drive and Oak Ridge Road, near the Florida Turnpike. Because of tourist traffic near Kirkman Road and International Drive, convincing local residents that the mall is easily accessible could be difficult, Crossman said.
Patrice Duker, with the International Council of Shopping Centers, said the Festival Bay concept is not unlike other new malls across the country, which are doing their best to blend shopping and entertainment aspects.
"The average shopper spends 74 minutes in a mall," Duker said. "If you give them something to do or an activity, like a movie theater or miniature golf course, you increase your chances of keeping that shopper longer."
Also excited to see Festival Bay's debut are company officials with Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Cinemark and Van's Skatepark, who said they expected the mall to open much sooner.
"Orlando has been one of our best-performing parks," said Chris Overholser, a spokesman with the Los Angeles-based skatepark and retail shop, which opened in January 2001. "We expect to do a lot better once the area doesn't look like a construction site."
By Sarah Hale
Sentinel Staff Writer
February 7, 2003
Construction crews at Festival Bay at International Drive are scurrying to finish the long-delayed mall before its April 3 debut -- almost three years later than initially planned.
Workers at the shopping center this week were busy installing fixtures, adding detail to the mall's streetscape decor and fine-tuning a man-made outdoor pond that appears to flow indoors, under a bridge and into the mall's center. The pond puts the "bay" in Festival Bay.
It has been almost five years since developers with Memphis, Tenn.-based Belz Enterprises first unveiled plans for the 1.1 million-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex, just southeast of Belz Factory Outlet World in southwest Orange County.
Since then, pieces of the mall, including key anchor tenants Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Van's Skatepark and a 20-screen Cinemark movie theater, have opened in phases.
Belz officials always planned to connect the anchor tenants by building phase two of the complex -- or the heart and soul of the mall, including a handful of restaurants and a couple dozen specialty shops. Because of construction permit delays and rumored financing difficulties, it took longer than expected to get the project off the ground.
"We're opening in April," Andy Groveman, Belz's executive vice president, said on Thursday. "Everybody is eager to get to the market as quickly as possible."
At one point, the company was shooting for a spring 2000 opening, which got bumped to spring 2001. Later officials anticipated a fourth-quarter 2002 debut.
Adding to the delay, officials had difficulty securing tenants because of the weak retail market and overall economic uncertainty, Groveman said. The October opening of the upscale Mall at Millenia, just four miles west of Festival Bay, also was a factor.
Although Groveman said the mall should open at about 70 percent occupancy, the mall "did not lease up as quickly as we anticipated," he said.
What helped attract tenants, though, is the mall's colorful Florida-Caribbean design and unique lineup of anchor stores. In addition to the stores that are already open, Cocoa Beach's Ron Jon Surf Shop, Shepler's Western Wear and Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, all firsts to the Orlando market, will also open in the mall.
Shepler's is a Wichita, Kan.-based western and equestrian wear chain, while Steve and Barry's, a collegiate apparel and merchandiser, is based in Great Neck, N.Y.
Other Festival Bay tenants include Putting Edge, an indoor, glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course; Storyville, a 20,000-square-foot bookstore; and retailers such as Journey's, BCBG, Pacific Sunwear and Charlotte Russe.
At one point, Ann Taylor Loft, Bath & Body Works, Victoria's Secret and F.Y.E., the entertainment store, were also said to be tenants, but officials would not confirm their presence in the mall.
"This mall was designed to meet the needs of our local customers," Groveman said. ". . . There is something here for everybody -- even dads, grandfathers and teens."
Finding a niche in the Orlando market, which is already becoming saturated with retail shopping malls, could be difficult for Festival Bay to do, said John Crossman, senior vice president of retail services with Trammell Crow Co., a commercial real estate firm.
Crossman said that the mall's unique lineup of stores and strong local Belz brand recognition could be a recipe for success. However, the company would need to do a better job of marketing itself to local residents.
Unlike the Mall at Millenia, which is at Conroy Road and Interstate 4, Festival Bay is tucked between International Drive and Oak Ridge Road, near the Florida Turnpike. Because of tourist traffic near Kirkman Road and International Drive, convincing local residents that the mall is easily accessible could be difficult, Crossman said.
Patrice Duker, with the International Council of Shopping Centers, said the Festival Bay concept is not unlike other new malls across the country, which are doing their best to blend shopping and entertainment aspects.
"The average shopper spends 74 minutes in a mall," Duker said. "If you give them something to do or an activity, like a movie theater or miniature golf course, you increase your chances of keeping that shopper longer."
Also excited to see Festival Bay's debut are company officials with Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Cinemark and Van's Skatepark, who said they expected the mall to open much sooner.
"Orlando has been one of our best-performing parks," said Chris Overholser, a spokesman with the Los Angeles-based skatepark and retail shop, which opened in January 2001. "We expect to do a lot better once the area doesn't look like a construction site."
