SANFORD, Fla. – The new year is expected to bring big changes to the Seminole Towne Center mall.
Property records show JCPenney, one of the few remaining anchor stores, sold for $7 million in December.
“A lot of folks love the JCPenney brand nationally. They’re just going through a major, major transition,” said Sanford’s Economic Development Director Brady Lessard. “But we’re excited to announce that the overall buyer of the mall, the Ardent group out of Atlanta, Georgia, has now closed on this building.”
A representative for The Ardent Companies told News 6 Wednesday that the group did not have any more details to share with the public just yet about how the sale will fit into their bigger plans to revitalize the Seminole Towne Center.
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Brady Lessard, the city’s economic development director, said the brand that is going to be located on the JCPenney property will make the community “really, really excited.”
On Wednesday, our News 6 team spoke to shoppers who said there were no signs just yet that the store would be closing.
“Nothing,” Margie De Rosa said. “But then they had 50%, 70% off. They have the typical holiday clearance.”
While the sale of the 122,758-square-foot department store is final, it’s still unclear when it will officially close and join the list of shops that moved out of the larger mall property last year.
In March, The Ardent Companies purchased 76 acres at the Seminole Towne Center and announced plans to redevelop the property with new retailers, an apartment building with 300 units, and a hotel.
Plans obtained by News 6 also show a 156,454-square-foot Costco would be built at the site of the old Macy’s, along with nearly 850 parking spaces and a fueling station.
Lessard shared an update with our crew Wednesday and said a final public hearing for Costco was scheduled for the following day.
“No problems are expected,” Lessard said. “They are expecting that store to open very late ’26 or very early ’27.”
The former Macy’s will be demolished this year to make way for new construction of the Costco store. Lessard said that’s when the public can expect to see work on the major redevelopment begin.
“That’s the question I’m probably asked the most is, ‘When will we start seeing things?’” Lessard said. “Really about March, you’re going to see some of the mall start coming down to make way for the redevelopment. So, about March is when folks are really going to be able to look at this and start putting pieces together of who’s coming, who’s redeveloping, who’s staying.”
Dillard’s, Elev8, and Dick’s Sporting Goods own their properties separately and remain anchor stores.
Lessard tells News 6 that more deals with new retailers have already been signed.
“Ardent is actually in town today (Wednesday) to start walking the site with folks that have signed deals,” Lessard said. “This is good timing.”
Lessard said the city has high hopes for the property’s future, which sits in a prime location near Interstate 4.
“Today as we stand on the mall, it’s worth about $50 million,” Lessard said. “Four years from now, that number will be $500 to $600 million.”
Shoppers like De Rosa say they hope a new year will finally bring new life to the Seminole Towne Center.
“I’m from Volusia County, so this is where we come. We don’t go up to Daytona because it’s too far. So, this is a big part of people’s lives here,” De Rosa said. “This whole area, you know, it’s our shopping area. It’s our entertainment area. I would like to see that.”