The Laker/Lutz News

Arizona

Simon: Outlet mall construction has started

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Crews were out this week clearing the land near the intersection of State Road 56 and Interstate 75 for a new outlet mall, and it looks like come this time next year, there will be a new place for residents to shop.

Simon Property Group told investors in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, that construction has started on Tampa Premium Outlets, a 441,000-square-foot center that is now expected to open next October. That is later than what Simon had hoped to complete construction, originally saying last year that it would open by the end of 2014, and then pushing that back to July 2015 a short time later.

It’s one of two new projects Simon has started in the most recent quarter, according to the filing, joining a 366,000-square-foot center start in Tucson, Arizona.

The Indianapolis-based company didn’t say how much it was spending on construction of the outlet mall in the general Wesley Chapel and Land O’ Lakes area, but said all of its current construction projects totaled about $2.2 billion. That includes the Tucson project, as well as recent premium mall openings in North Carolina and Minnesota, and construction and expansion of at least 30 other projects throughout North America.

Tampa Premium Outlets LLC purchased the more than 48 acres of land on three parcels for $14.1 million on Oct. 3, according to Pasco County property records. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simon Property Group, according to state corporate records, and Simon’s financial filings with the SEC.

The full project will be built in seven phases, according to plans filed with the county last February, which would include the main outlet mall in the first phase located in nine buildings. It will include nearly 2,400 parking spaces, far more than the 1,600 spaces required by the county for a project of this size.

Simon has not made any formal announcements on tenants for the property, or who will anchor, although some of those announcements are expected by the end of the year.

7-Eleven selling Lutz location, 74 others

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Competition from a new RaceTrac location just next door may have sealed the fate of a long-time service station in Pasco Lutz. (Photo by Michael Hinman)
Competition from a new RaceTrac location just next door may have sealed the fate of a long-time service station in Pasco Lutz. (Photo by Michael Hinman)

The 7-Eleven store at 23434 State Road 54 in Lutz, is one of 75 stations across the country 7-Eleven Inc. is putting up for sale.

Robbie Radant, a vice president with the company, said 7-Eleven is cutting loose stores like the Lutz one not because it’s underperforming, but because it no longer fits with its overall goals.

“There are many nice sites in this package that simple do not fit 7-Eleven’s current business model,” Radant said in a release. “All of these stores have solid merchandise sales, and should provide good opportunities for the right buyers.”

However, it’s likely that last year’s opening of a competing RaceTrac just next door may have played a role in why the 7-Eleven is hitting the market, after decades of minimal competition on its stretch of State Road 54.

7-Eleven is looking to part ways with 31 stores in Florida, along with 14 in Virginia, six in Massachusetts and Illinois, three in Texas and two in New York, Delaware, New Jersey and Utah. The company is selling single stores in Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

The Lutz site will not include the 7-Eleven branding, but could include a fuel contract with SEI Fuels Inc., a subsidiary of 7-Eleven, the company said.

7-Eleven has brought in NRC Realty & Capital Advisors of Chicago to conduct the sale, which will accept sealed bids from groups looking to buy single or multiple locations. The bid deadline is July 29.

The Lutz 7-Eleven opened in 1987 with a 3,100-square-foot store along State Road 54 when it was still a two-lane road. It includes a 10-year fuel contract.

For information on the sale, visit NRC.com/1408, or call (800) 747-3342, ext. 1408.

Tampa one of nation’s top cities for job seekers

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The job market is on the slow road to recovery, but living in the Tampa Bay area still has its advantages.

A new report from WalletHub lists Tampa as the third best metropolitan area in the country for job seekers, behind only Fort Worth, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

WalletHub, a company that provides insurance information and finances for business owners, analyzed 60 of the country’s largest cities using 13 metrics ranging from job openings per capita, cost of living, and the prevalence of employer-provided health benefits.

In fact, Tampa was one of only two cities that made the top 30 — Miami just came in at the final slot. Texas, on the other hand, dominated the list with seven cities, including five in the top 10. It was broken up only by Seattle, Denver and Mesa, Ariz.

Tampa, however, has a long way to go to become an elite city for job seekers. Despite finishing in the top three, Tampa did not make the top five when it came to fastest-growing workforce (Bakersfield, Calif.), and highest median starting salary (San Jose at $57,108).

The top cities for job seekers are:

1. Fort Worth, Texas
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Tampa
4. Arlington, Texas
5. Dallas
6. Austin, Texas
7. Seattle
8. Denver
9. Mesa, Ariz.
10. Houston
11. Raleigh, N.C.
12. Corpus Christi, Texas
13. Aurora, Colo.
14. Phoenix
15. San Jose

Passing the baton to my future daughter-in-law

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When my son Andy announced his engagement recently, I had flashbacks to his childhood at the same time I was offering congratulations and best wishes.

Andy Mathes, son of Publisher Diane Kortus, and Erin Morgan became engaged in Savannah, Ga., over Labor Day weekend.
Andy Mathes, son of Publisher Diane Kortus, and Erin Morgan became engaged in Savannah, Ga., over Labor Day weekend.

When Andy was born 25 years ago, I believed no one could ever love him as much as I did. From the time he was an adorable tow-headed baby to a defiant teenager to an honorable man, I have loved Andy unconditionally. In good times and bad, no matter how angry I got when he tormented his little sister or did not call to tell me when he’d be home, and I’d stay up worrying.

But now another woman loves my son in a way I never can — as his future wife. And I find that a bit humbling, knowing there is someone else with whom Andy shares his deepest thoughts and emotions.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me first tell you the love story of Andy Mathes and Erin Morgan.

A Lake Wobegon reference stopped Andy last October as he passed by a table full of teachers in a bar in Yuma, Ariz. A first lieutenant in the U.S. Marines, Andy was out west conducting training. Erin was in Yuma as a second-year middle school teacher. The two met when Andy overheard Erin and her friends talking about Garrison Keillor and the “Prairie Home Companion” radio show.

I’m from Minnesota and my children grew up listening to Garrison most Saturday evenings. By the time they were in kindergarten they knew all about Lake Wobegon, the town where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average.”

Growing up, Andy spent summers with his Minnesota relatives, and although a Florida native, I’ve always thought he was a Midwesterner at heart. As it turned out, Erin is from Appleton, Wis., and is a graduate of St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn. With that Minnesota connection, Andy and Erin had enough in common to begin dating.

Andy called me after meeting Erin and told me he had that instinctive feeling that “she was the one.” While I loved that Erin had good Midwestern values and was of the same Catholic faith, I was not as sure as my idealistic son that he had truly met his future wife.

Of course, Andy proved me wrong. After three weeks in Yuma, Andy went back to his platoon in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and he and Erin continued to talk every day. They met next in the Twin Cities over New Year’s, when Andy conjured up a plan to visit his grandparents after spending Christmas in Land O’ Lakes with me and his sister, Rachel.

Andy rendezvoused with Erin in St. Paul, who got away from her family in Appleton to meet up with Andy in the snow.

And that’s how it came to be that my father and stepmother met Erin before I did, along with my many sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews.

Two months later, Rachel and I finally met Erin. We planned a weekend where we could all meet, and Andy could show Erin the Naval Academy in Annapolis where he had graduated. Not only was Erin charming, but she and Rachel also seemed to have an instant, sisterly connection. I began to think that maybe Andy’s premonition was right.

I wasn’t surprised this spring when Erin decided to apply for teaching positions in school districts close to Camp Lejeune, and was proud when she quickly got a job teaching fourth grade. She joined Andy in North Carolina this summer.

Andy and Erin’s engagement is clouded with both joy and uncertainty. Andy leaves this week for training in southern California before he deploys to Afghanistan this fall. There he will be part of a team of Marines advising the Afghan National Army.

When Andy returns next July, he and Erin will finalize their wedding plans, a celebration that will likely be in Appleton in November, in the church where Erin grew up.

While of course I worry about my son’s deployment, I am comforted knowing he is loved by a wonderful young woman who shares his dreams, and will be waiting for him when he returns home.

And that is truly all any mother wants. To pass the baton on to another woman who will embrace her son in love and share a future of happiness with him.