ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Part of the St. Augustine Outlets could soon close and be replaced with new homes, retail space and a movie theatre if St. Johns County commissioners vote in favor of redevelopment during a Tuesday meeting.
The property’s owner wants to redevelop the existing property into a mixed-used space on 31 acres of land.
This would affect the indoor outlets on the northeast side of I-95 and state road 16, not the strip-mall style Premium Outlets on the southbound side.
Commissioner Henry Dean told News4Jax in June the outlets weren’t what they used to be, so he understands why the owner wants to re-develop. Earlier this year, there were 35 tenants at the outlet and 75 total retail spaces.
The application for redevelopment said, “the outlet mall is aging and has been struggling to retain tenants for some time.”
It’s not a done deal yet, but the plan was unanimously recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Agency, 7-0.
New York City-based mall owner Lightstone wants to close the outlets, which feature mostly indoor shopping, to develop a mixed-use space called the St. Augustine Center.
Documents show the mall could be converted into 350 multifamily units along with up to 99,500 square feet of retail and commercial space as well as 300,000 square feet of light industrial development. There’s also a proposed movie theater and hundreds of hotel rooms that could be added.
The documents News4Jax reported on earlier this year made no mention of demolishing the outlets, rather converting the space.