Mall Maneuvers

Bill Taubman, chief operating officer for one of the more prominent shopping mall development firms in the country, isn't kidding when he says good things come to those who wait.

Like The Mall at University Town Center, a project that by some accounts is nearly 20 years in the making. That waiting period officially ended Oct. 15, when the partners behind the mall, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers and University Park-based Benderson Development, held a celebratory groundbreaking.

Planned at 880,000 square feet and more than 100 stores, the mall will be built just west of the University Parkway exit of Interstate 75, off Cattlemen Road. The area is in Sarasota County, with the Manatee County line across University Parkway. “We believe in Florida, and we believe in Sarasota County,” says Taubman. “We've had our eye on this location for a long time.”

With a projected construction value of $315 million, the mall is one of the largest building developments to break ground in the Sarasota-Manatee region during the past decade. The project, moreover, is one of only a few new malls going up nationwide.

Taubman says the mall will utilize both natural light and the newest technologies. “I promise you're not going to be disappointed,” says Taubman. “(This mall will) represent the future of shopping.”

Here's a glance at some of the present malls on the Gulf Coast and how each compares with The Mall at University Town Center.