Will the planned 1.3 million sq. ft. Cypress Creek Town Center be built as an outlet mall?

Cypress Creek Town Center (file copy)

We are all familiar with all the woes of the proposed 1.3 million sq. ft. Cypress Creek Town Center at SR 56 & I-75.  The mall was planned all the way back in 2006 and was supposed to be built the same time as The Shops at Wiregrass and the Grove, but was repeatedly delayed with lawsuits and permitting issues. 

Lately however there has been some good news for this planned mall.  Last November a federal court reversed a previous district court ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly examined the impacts to wetlands and waterways in granting the mall a permit, but it also found that the Corps and the developer must address the project's impact to the Eastern Indigo snake, a threatened species.

In today's Tampa Tribune, Richard Mullins reports that outlet mall builder, the Simon Property Group is planning an outlet mall in Tampa.  (No specific location has been announced, but Mullins writes a lot about The Cypress Creek Town Center location in the article.)  You also may recall that years ago another mall just north of Wesley Chapel,  with 2 million sq. ft  at SR 52 & I 75 was proposed;  "The Pasco Town Centre" was going to be an outlet mall.  Well, that mall never was built.

Since there already is an outlet mall 45 minutes south of Tampa in Ellenton, the Cypress Creek Town Center is a very likely location for the outlet mall.  If so, it could bring new discounted retail stores to our area such as:  Nike, Brooks Brothers, Levis, Kenneth Cole, & Saks.

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