Retrofit Atlas

Malls · Florida

Sunshine Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedDemolishedClearwater, FL

Sunshine Mall opened 1968, lost anchors, closed 1998, demolished for a planned 600‑unit apartment complex in Clearwater, FL and today · summary, model-written

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Site profile11 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors
J. C. PenneyThis site: J. C. Penney wikipedia · all sites with this
Place
15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)This site: 6/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this
200+ tax-credit housing units within 1 kmThis site: 320 units in 2 properties hud-lihtc · all sites with this
Bike network nearbyThis site: 40 ways openstreetmap · all sites with this
County typical rent $2,000+This site: $2,028/mo zillow · all sites with this
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 3 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
High social vulnerability tract (SVI ≥ 0.75)This site: 0.90 cdc-svi · all sites with this
Opportunity ZoneThis site: 12103025900 hud-oz · all sites with this
Renter-majority tractThis site: 82% census-acs · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: …a 600-apartment complex extraction · all sites with this
New use
HousingThis site: …a 600-apartment complex The mall was demolished beginning in July 1998 by T extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusDemolishedextracted, unreviewed
StrategyRedevelopedextracted, unreviewed
New useshousingextracted, unreviewed
What is there nowa 600-apartment complexextracted, unreviewed

Planning

Planning notesThe mall was demolished beginning in July 1998 by Terra Excavating Inc of Largo, FL in order to make way for a 600-apartment complex.extracted, unreviewed

Site context

Transit within 800 mno rail station; 14 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zoneno NFHL polygon at point (unmapped or outside coverage)FEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m12: BAY LIFE PHARMACY, INC.; BAYCARE MEDICAL GROUP GYNECOLOGY & ONCOLOGY SPECIALISTS; BELLEAIR ELEMENTARY - CLASSROO; CLEARWATER MALL PHASE 2; JEFFORDS INTERNAL MEDICINEEPA FRS
Census tract 121030259013,736 people, 6,234 per sq mi; median household income $51,467; median gross rent $1,270; 82% renters; 27.3% vacant units; 3.3% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)6 of 6 daily needs: 3 grocers, 1 schools, 7 parks or playgrounds, 2 health, 3 civic, 8 food and drink; 40 cycleway segments, 203 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zoneyes, tract 12103025900 (rural)HUD
Housing permits, Pinellas County (FL), 20241,422 units in 5+ unit buildings, 70 in 2–4, 1,135 single-family; 2023: 1,826 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.90; socioeconomic 0.88; housing and transport 0.96; 36% below 150% of poverty; 20% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby1 within 10 km, 4 within 25 km: Crossroads Mall (7.6 km)computed
Overture Mapsno place match; building footprint 8,589 m², 14.74 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Attention: Wikipedia page views10,604 since 2015; 1,862 in the last 12 months (-4% vs the prior 12); peak 2020-01 with 445Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023tract boundary changed between the 2010 and 2020 census; no 2013 comparisonCensus ACS
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)relatively low overall (score 32.6); expected annual loss $1.0M; high: lightning; community resilience very lowFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km2 LIHTC properties, 320 units: Lexington Club At Renaissance Square (240 units); Madison Point (80 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 20233,779 establishments (+6%); 54,288 jobs (+11%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $368,917 (+0% 1 yr, +13% 5 yr); typical rent $2,028/mo (+2% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)27,500 vehicles a day on S MISSOURI AVE (principal arterial, 6 lanes); 1,100 trucks; 8 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Sunshine Mall opened in 1968 as a single-level enclosed mall anchored by Phar-Mor and Office Depot. Over time it lost key anchors—Pantry Pride (1979), J Byrons (1991), McCrory's (1994) and J.C. Penney announced its departure in 1994—leading to decline. The mall closed in 1998 and demolition began that July to make way for a planned 600‑apartment complex.

Why. The record shows anchor store losses as the primary cause of the mall’s decline, prompting the owner to pursue redevelopment. No explicit mention of debt, competition, or other financial pressures appears in the record.

Where it stands. The site is demolished; Fusco Property Management, listed as the owner in the record, controlled the demolition for the planned housing redevelopment.

For a planner

  • Precedent: demolition of a failed mall for residential reuse.
  • Policy tools: not specified in the record (e.g., zoning changes, incentives).
  • Open questions: current zoning, affordable‑housing requirements, infrastructure capacity for 600 units.

For a developer

  • Site size: not provided in the record.
  • Control: Fusco Property Management owned the property at demolition.
  • Entitlement stage: demolition completed; planning notes indicate a 600‑apartment complex was proposed.
  • Constraints: flood‑plain, transit access, and environmental context layers are absent from the record.
  • Market signal: median rent cited as $1,525 in the opportunity score rationale.

What we do not know yet

  • Exact parcel acreage or dimensions are missing.
  • Post‑demolition ownership status is unknown.
  • Whether the 600‑apartment complex was built and its current occupancy.
  • Environmental constraints (flood zone, soil contamination) are not detailed.
  • Transit proximity and access improvements are not described.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

  • Tampa Bay Center, Tampa, FL · Malls · closed 2001; same strategy: redevelop; also in FL
  • Avondale Mall, DeKalb County, GA · Malls · opened 1964; closed 2001; same strategy: redevelop
  • Indian Springs Mall, Kansas City, KS · Malls · opened 1971; closed 2001; same strategy: redevelop
  • Jefferson Square Mall, Joliet, IL · Malls · opened 1975; closed 2002; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

Pages with photos

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • closed or demolished site (sourced)
  • median rent $1,525
  • housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened1968extracted, unreviewed
Closed1998Wikidata
Original developerGambest Associateshermes-web
AnchorsPhar-Mor, Office Depot, J. C. Penney, J Byrons
CountyPinellas County
Census division5 · South Atlantic
NotesWikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Sunshine Mall was a single-level, enclosed shopping mall located in Clearwater, Florida, U.S. It was anchored by Phar-Mor and Office Depot. It was owned by New Haven, Connecticut based Fusco Property Management.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1968 Opened
  2. 1970 Second anchor J Byrons confirmed
  3. 1977 Theater twinned into two-screen
  4. 1979 Pantry Pride closed
  5. 1990 Office Depot opened
  6. 1991 J Byrons closed
  7. 1994 McCrory's closed, J.C. Penney announced intentions to leave
  8. 1995 US$10 million rebuild announced
  9. 1998 Closed (Wikidata)
  10. 1998 Demolition began

Sources

  • found by hermes-web (staffboxfree) · supports: after notes, status, strategy, year opened
    15 quoted sentences
    The Sunshine Mall opened on September 26, 1968, with 175,000 square feet (16,300 m2) of mall space
    in order to make way for a 600-apartment complex.
    The mall was demolished beginning in July 1998 by Terra Excavating Inc of Largo, FL
    A US$10 million rebuild of the mall was announced in 1995, which was to transform the mall into a strip mall power center, retaining an interior corridor, however this never came to pass.

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