Oviedo Market Place: A Gem in the Weeds?

Issues and Voices that Matter February 14, 2011

Oviedo Market Place: A Gem in the Weeds?

Oviedo Marketplace: A Gem in the Weeds? (photo & graphic - CMF Public Media) Feature length - 26:19

At the Oviedo Marketplace mall, there is a new owner…a new property management company…and a new general manager – Brian Olivi. in place and fired up to take his “gem in the weeds” to a level of being a polished jewel in south east Seminole County’s retail shopping environment. Is the beleaguered mall really here to stay? Listen to Olivi, then decide. Length – 26:19

Produced, reported and edited by Stephen McKenney Steck.

Give newcomer Brian Olivi the credit for the phrase “a gem in the weeds.” He ought to know. He’s the new general manager of the mall and it is on him who many are focusing to lead the mall’s transition out of the weeds and into that status of being the “polished jewel” of the area. Olivi is making plans, rallying the merchants, impressing the players in the city, fixing things up, hiring new staff and spending money.

The new owner of the mall is CW Capital who, in turn, retains a company – Urban Retail Properties -to manage the property. Olivi is the professional who Urban Retail hired in November 2010. Olivi addresses the status of and his relationship with the mall’s merchant association… the key issues on which he and his new team are focusing… and some growth and expansion bench marks he hopes to attain by year’s end. He offers his understanding of the journey the mall has travelled from groundbreaking in the late 1990s to the present and the role a general manager plays in the life of the mall.

The Oviedo Marketplace mall – now 14 years old — has been ensnared in weeds almost from its beginning, suffering from diminishing shopper acceptance to store turnover….from multiple ownership to bankruptcy…and from facts to rumors. Throw in the sour economy and the “great recession” and you can see why the mall has become a disappointment on many levels.

For sure, the mall has been a disappointment to its merchants and the city of Oviedo. City government and most area residents hoped the mall would play a significant economic role in the city, in the surrounding area, and in the image the mall has in the minds of people in this part of Central Florida – those people are its residents and the businesses the area wants to keep and the new businesses it wants to attract.

Within its walls, the mall accommodates 950,000 square feet of merchant leasing area – from such anchor tenants as Dillard’s, Macy’s, Sears and a 22-screen Regal Cinema plus another 70 or so national, regional and local retailers.

The mall is typed as single-level and enclosed. It’s regional in its reach to a population of 400,000 people. 5,700 outdoor parking spaces surround the mall. In 2009, $610,000 of property tax revenue from the mall went directly to the City of Oviedo.