Floridians of a certain age may remember making a day of going to the shopping mall with one’s parents. Perhaps you had school clothes to buy, so you’d have lunch, enjoy an Orange Julius, and hit the major players like JC Penney’s and Sears to put together your school wardrobe. However, today the mall landscape in Florida is changing. Many anchor stores are selling or closing. And some malls are completely for sale. One of them is Westshore Plaza, and residents have mixed feelings.

About Westshore Plaza: Fox 13 calls this a “landmark” shopping center, which is located at the corner of busy Westshore and Kennedy Boulevards. It was built in the 1960s. Because of its longevity and location, it was part of many Floridian’s childhoods. And many of the over 5,300 Google reviews reflect this. For example, Demetrios writes:

“Been coming to this mall for many years. The location is perfect. The Westshore Plaza is in the middle of Tampa! The restaurants, stores, and shops are great and the parking is perfect!”

That’s So Tampa calls the Plaza “iconic.”

The Mall Is Being Marketed For Sale And Could Be Redeveloped: Real estate broker CBRE has confirmed that it is marketing Westshore Plaza for sale. According to redevelopment documents, redevelopment could include “entertainment, retail, dining, office, wellness, medical, hotel and residential components.”

Floridians Have Mixed Feelings: On a Facebook post by ABC Action News about the mall being put up for sale, some expressed mixed feelings. For example, Raleigh wrote:

“More condos…”

But Craig wrote:

“Plow it down (and) build the stadium there. It’s actually a prime location for it.”

Gina expressed sadness:

“Very very sad about this – closest mall this side of St Pete – right over the bridge.”