Prepare to spend even longer driving around the sea of cars at International Plaza, especially to cut off that mini van to snag that primo parking.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, tentative plans to add both a movie theater and bowling alley will cut 329 parking spaces and 500 feet of retail space, reducing the total parking spaces from 5,998 to 5,669.
The movie theater would take up roughly 40,000 square feet with 653 total seats, while the bowling alley would be 14 lanes wide, taking up about 31,000 square feet. The mall’s general manager Gary Malfroid stated that “International Plaza confirms that an expansion plan has been submitted to the city. We will share more specific details with the community in due course.”
The theater and bowling alley are planned to be sandwiched next to each other between the Nordstrom parking lot and Bay Street parking. The massive additions are still in the very beginning stages of planning, as developers and the community alike wait in anticipation for the city’s response to the expansion proposal.
These new extensions mark the continuous shift away from the traditional retail of shopping malls, towards a focus on entertainment and activities. Popularity increases in online shopping have hurt the traditional mall structure, and Tampa International is not immune. Plans to add more entertainment-focused attractions, like theaters and bowling alleys, are a direct response of the decline of the everyday mall experience.
These additions would make the International Plaza an ultimate, family friendly destination for shopping, food and entertainment.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in May 16-23, 2019.
