Tampa's WestShore Plaza put up for sale

WestShore Plaza, the 50-year-old Tampa mall and once one of the city’s premier shopping destinations, has been listed for sale. 

CBRE announced Tuesday it was listing the shopping center which it is calling Westshore 54. The firm did not disclose a sale price.

The shopping center, already slated for a major redevelopment, sits on 53.3 acres on Westshore and Kennedy boulevards about mile from International Plaza and two miles from Tampa International Airport.

Washington Prime Group, the mall’s current owner, won approval last year for mixed-use development on the property that will include retail, restaurants, offices, medical offices, a hotel and 1,700 multifamily units, as well as a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority transfer station.

According to a statement Tuesday from CBRE, the property has more than 8.1 million square feet of entitlements and the center “offers a clear, immediate path to vertical development.”

The 1.09 million-square-foot WestShore Plaza currently counts AMC Theaters, P.F. Chang’s, Old Navy, JCPenney and dozens of local and national retailers as tenants. A 253,198-square-foot Macy’s on the property is in the process of closing and a Dick’s Sporting Goods moved out late last year.

WPG has repeatedly declined to give specifics on what will happen to tenants with existing leases if and when the redevelopment moves forward.

But in an emailed statement Tuesday the company says that, “At wpg, we value our retailers and are committed to being a good steward to them throughout the redevelopment process, which for a redevelopment of this size is likely a long, phased approach. Our retailers’ success is our success and by working together we can create something truly special for our community.” 

WestShore Plaza was once one of the top shopping centers in the region drawing large crowds with a tenant roster that included Sak’s Fifth Avenue.

But it was hit by two major changes over the years that have all but sealed its fate. The first was changing consumer habits that have left traditional malls struggling as shoppers look elsewhere to purchase what they are looking for. The second was the 2001 opening of International Plaza.

That center, with its luxury tenants and reputation far outside Tampa, has taken over as the major shopping and dining destination in the market drawing shoppers away from WestShore Plaza.

And it is taken tenants away too.

Dick’s closed its WestShore store to move to a new state-of-the-art location at International Plaza.