Titusville City Mall Plan Goes Before Council
TITUSVILLE — A preliminary master plan for transforming the Miracle City Mall site into a retail, office and residential development has gotten over its first hurdle and will be heading to the Titusville City Council on Tuesday.
The proposal would drastically revamp the 30.86-acre site of the nearly vacant mall, which has J.C. Penney as its anchor tenant.
The master concept plan includes a new 60,000-square-foot store for J.C. Penney; a second anchor tenant occupying 18,000 square feet; a series of smaller shops in an open-air mall format similar to The Avenue Viera; and three restaurants. There also would be a 50,000-square-foot, two-story medical office building. A later phase of the project would include a 250-unit upscale apartment complex.
Without the redevelopment, J.C. Penney’s future in Titusville could be in question.
In a memo to the city council, Titusville City Manager Mark Ryan said, “It is essential that the master plan be approved by the city,” so the project can move forward. Ryan said J.C. Penney “has indicated they would be willing to stay in the Titusville market if they could get a building constructed by October 2012.”
Brevard County Commissioner Robin Fisher said he is optimistic about efforts so far to find investors to help fund redevelopment of the mall on U.S. 1. He estimates the project would cost $40 million to $45 million.
“It’s a complicated deal,” said Fisher, who has been working with Erick Collazo, managing member of Boca Raton-based MBA Development Partners, on the mall project.
Fisher has been been coordinating efforts by local community and business leaders to bring new life to the site as part of the Greater Titusville Renaissance initiative. Fisher co-founded Greater Titusville Renaissance with Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley.
In a report to the council, Titusville Planning Manager Art Interiano said the city staff recommends approval of the preliminary master plan, with the condition that a traffic study is submitted during later site plan review.
The Titusville Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 in favor of the preliminary plan.
Contact Berman at 321-360-1016 or dberman@floridatoday.com.