Mall Maneuvers

Bill Taubman, chief operating officer for one of the more prominent shopping mall development firms in the country, isn't kidding when he says good things come to those who wait.

Like The Mall at University Town Center, a project that by some accounts is nearly 20 years in the making. That waiting period officially ended Oct. 15, when the partners behind the mall, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers and University Park-based Benderson Development, held a celebratory groundbreaking.

Planned at 880,000 square feet and more than 100 stores, the mall will be built just west of the University Parkway exit of Interstate 75, off Cattlemen Road. The area is in Sarasota County, with the Manatee County line across University Parkway. “We believe in Florida, and we believe in Sarasota County,” says Taubman. “We've had our eye on this location for a long time.”