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Cypress Creek mall project could resume after suspension

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BY KEVIN WIATROWSKI THE TAMPA TRIBINE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Federal environmental regulators say they're considering re-issuing the suspended development permit for Cypress Creek Town Center, where construction was halted in February after repeated Clean Water Act violations.

In the meantime, the mall developers say the 10-month suspension, coupled with the economic downturn, has forced them to renegotiate leases and reconsider their tenant mix. They will have to rebid construction contracts on the project, spokeswoman Deanne Roberts said.

The public notice for the re-issued permit was released Tuesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The revised permit will be open for public comment until Jan. 15.

In spite of the shutdown, the mall's developers - the Cleveland-based Richard E. Jacobs Group and Sierra Properties of Tampa - have spent most of this year meeting their county-mandated obligation to widen S.R. 54 as part of their deal to build the 502-acre project, which straddles S.R. 56 on the west side of Interstate 75. That work, which will expand the road to six lanes, is set to end Dec. 31.

Word of the public notice took many of the mall's opponents by surprise. Sierra Club spokeswoman Denise Layne said the environmental activist group, which sued the Corps of Engineers to overturn the original wetlands permit, remains opposed to constructing the mall in its current location.

Developers and regulators must address Sierra Club's concerns about downstream effects of the mall to avoid further legal battles, Layne said.

The Corps of Engineers and the developers are still negotiating penalties for the pollution, said Tom Farrell, an inspector with the federal agency's Tampa office.

The Corps of Engineers' action comes at a point when Jacobs and Sierra are re-examining the future of their project. Jacobs has lost two of its intended tenants - Circuit City and Linens-N-Things - to bankruptcy proceedings this year. A third, Justice Just for Girls, opened a store at the competing Shops at Wiregrass in October.

At the time work was shut down, the mall's tenant list included AMC Theatres, Old Navy, Kohl's and Target. Target got as far as pouring a slab for one of its SuperTarget units before work stopped.

It is too early to know how changes in the broader economy will change the mall's tenant mix, Roberts said.

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