The ashes of University Mall are rekindling as the area resurges in its third act
University Town Plaza ? or University Mall as it is often remembered ? used to be the prominent shopping and social hub for area residents. Built in 1974 on North Davis Highway, it boasted three retail anchors, an inside movie theater and an architectural charm found often in U.S. malls built during the mid-20th century.
Its charm, alongside its functionality, left a memorable mark in the minds of some longtime residents who remember University Mall during its most popular era.
It reigned supreme for about two decades before a number of issues ? some literally ? hit the area and Cordova Mall’s development made it a more appealing option for shoppers, eventually relegating University Mall to the open-air strip mall that it is today.
With new businesses setting up shop in the North Davis Highway area over the past few years, however, University Town Plaza has seemingly hit a turning point after a long period of uncertainty.
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University Town Plaza’s resurgence
Hurricane Ivan decimated University Mall 20 years ago, destroying parts of the mall and forcing the owners, Washington Prime Group (WPG), to reconsider their path forward.
After they decided on a redesign to the mall’s structure, which turned University Mall into an open-air mall, the shopping center’s future appeared grim. But after years of uncertainty, University Town Plaza’s popularity is on the rise again in the minds of consumers and businesses alike.
Multiple new businesses opened in the area this year, including Pounders Hawaiian Grill and southern barbecue chain Jim ‘N Nicks. The latter opened its first local store at University Town Plaza in July and droves of customers have been lining up for their barbecue every day since.
“I think it’s going to bring people in tremendously,” said University Town Plaza visitor Mike Miller, who was visiting the area one recent afternoon. “The places that seem to go under are the little shops, the little clothing stores, but I think that’s just bound to happen. They try it and see if it works. If they’re selling the right items in the right area, they can make it.”
Longtime Academy Sports employee Cece Gant said the mall and its surrounding areas were barren for years before its recent resurgence. Gant, who has worked at the store for longer than a decade, said she’s seen more people frequent the area since the arrival of Bubba’s, then Cheddar’s, and now Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ.
“There was nothing out here, it was us and J.C. Penney, then they built Burlington. It’s pretty surreal because before it wasn’t this busy,” she said. “It’s pretty cool, I guess, because you see a lot of subdivisions and houses popping up.
“(Jim ‘N Nicks) is definitely going to bring in a lot more foot traffic,” she continued. “I think it’s great that Pensacola is growing this fast, I feel like it’s definitely going to be a major city within the next 15-20 years because of the rate it’s growing.”
‘In the last 20 years we’ve seen a lot of growth out there’
Despite opening its doors two years after Cordova Mall, there wasn’t a humble or slow beginning for University Mall.
Developers finished its construction in 1974 and the mall quickly became the preference for shoppers thanks to its anchor retail stores: McRae’s, J.C. Penney and Sears. McRae’s was an especially unique inclusion, as the University Mall location was the family-owned business’ first store outside of their hometown in Jackson, Mississippi, at the time.
Both University Mall and Cordova Mall benefitted from big retail stores deciding to leaving downtown Pensacola during the '70s, but University Mall had more anchor stores than Cordova Mall by this point.
University Mall’s United Artists Movie Theatre was another factor that led many visitors to prefer it over Cordova Mall.
Thanks to the United Artists theater being situated inside with the mall's retail stores, shoppers were able to head straight to the screens without having to leave the mall. Whereas at Cordova Mall, you had to head outside to reach the nearby theaters Cordova 1 and 2.
Former Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson recalled how much foot traffic the area used to have and its hold as the go-to option for shopping.
“I think it’s been a great thing for both the community and the county,” said Robinson, who was also the county commissioner for District 4 where University Town Plaza is located from 2006 until 2018. “It’s had its ups and downs but it’s good to see the whole University Mall area on the on-and-up.”
Although the Ferry Pass area is undergoing rapid development now, which is mostly concentrated around Nine Mile Road, it wasn’t always that way.
“There was really not much of anything out there in the '70s when it came out there. There were people living (in Ferry Pass) but not nearly what came in the '70s, '80s and '90s,” Robinson said.
Robinson credited University Mall’s popularity, University of West Florida’s presence and HCA Florida West Hospital laying their roots in Ferry Pass as driving forces that spurred more development and growth in the area.
“There was absolutely zero (development) out on Nine Mile Road in 2000, so in the last 20 years we’ve seen a lot of growth out there,” he continued.
‘People didn’t know what was going to happen’
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 changed University Mall’s fate with one swoop through the area, destroying the mall as it was constructed. According to Robinson, WPG's decision to transition University Mall into its current layout was because traditional "inside-only malls" were facing challenges nationwide.
“There was a time in the mid-2000s where there was a lot of question about (University Mall’s future), you did see sort of deteriorating values in that area because people didn’t know what was going to happen,” Robinson said. “While (University Town Plaza) certainly has an impact in that immediate commercial area, I think it has a much wider impact on that whole Ferry Pass area, not only from the commercial side but from the residential side as well. When (an area) is viable, strong and has good things going on, those areas are much better residential areas to be in.
“I think the re-establishment, rebranding and redevelopment of University Mall has been good for everyone there. It’s been a good success story about how you can reuse and rethink how properties are utilized,” Robinson continued.
Benjamin Finney lives in Navarre but he visits University Town Plaza often to shop at Academy Sports for hunting and fishing gear. Finney has been in Northwest Florida since 2000 and described the area as a “desert” while talking about his trips to the mall decades ago.
“I remember when (University Town Plaza) was the mall and J.C. Penney’s was actually in the mall. There’s definitely a lot more places to eat than it used to be and there’s a giant parking lot over here now,” Finney said. “It used to be a big empty parking lot and nobody was using it for anything. I definitely think the commerce here has kicked up. I love having the food options because this is the main drag to get onto the highway, this is where Pensacola comes through.”
Competition with Cordova Mall
Cordova Mall’s emergence as Escambia County’s most popular shopping hub was a long time coming, especially after an expansion project in 1998 that added two additional anchor spaces to the mall, which now hold Dick’s Sporting Goods and Best Buy. Cordova's other anchors include Dillard's and Belk.
Their outside movie theaters also came inside the mall to make it an easier trip for visitors. That movie theater is gone now, but in its place stands Cordova Mall's food court.
“In the '90s and early 2000s, Cordova Mall definitely became the mall and the retail center for the community … really for all of this area and it’s still a prominent retail market in Pensacola today,” Robinson said.
While Cordova Mall continues to grow, University Town Plaza has lost many of its big retail stores over the years. Belk, which acquired McRae’s in 2006, and Sears both stopped operating in the plaza years ago and national retail chain Burlington left this year to move over to Cordova Mall.
Still, community leaders are excited about the growth of the area and University Town Plaza is at the center. BJ's Wholesale Club opened in 2020 and Conn's HomePlus opened several months later, kickstarting many of the smaller developments around it.
Right behind the plaza, a 58,000-square foot LivSmart Studios by Hilton hotel, is being built on Plantation Road and University Office Boulevard.
Additional land is being marketed for future big box retail and there's hope it won't be long before those spots are filled.
“You have a clothing store, you have a furniture store you just gotta find a big niche store,” said longtime shopper Benjamin Finney.
That, Finney predicts, will keep University Town Plaza on the right trajectory.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: University Town Plaza on North Davis Highway poised for resurgence
