Retail Boom: Centre of Tallahassee’s Early Years (1971-1990s)
Tallahassee Mall opened in 1971, bringing a new shopping experience to Florida’s capital.
Located at the busy intersection of North Monroe Street and John Knox Road, the mall quickly became a retail hotspot.
The original anchor stores—Gayfers, Woolco, and Montgomery Ward—attracted steady foot traffic, while smaller tenants like McCrory Stores and Walgreens filled out the rest of the shopping center.
With no direct competition in the area, the mall thrived throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Changes began in 1983 when Woolco shut down all U.S. locations. The Tallahassee Mall store was replaced by Zayre, a discount department store chain expanding across the Southeast.
This transition kept the mall busy, but in 1990, Zayre’s corporate parent merged with Ames, forcing another name change at the location.
Ames struggled nationally, and its presence in Tallahassee didn’t last long.
In 1992, the mall’s owners expanded the property, adding a new wing behind Montgomery Ward.
This addition led to the arrival of a fourth anchor, Parisian, a Birmingham-based department store known for its upscale selection.
To accommodate the expansion, a new concourse was built through Montgomery Ward, splitting the store into two sections.
Plans also included a Kmart moving into the old Ames space and the arrival of Mervyn’s, but neither materialized.
Decline and Management Struggles (1995-2013)
By the mid-1990s, Tallahassee Mall was losing its edge. New shopping centers, including Governor’s Square, had pulled customers away, leaving stores in the older mall struggling.
Westinghouse had already sold the property to Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation in 1992, but even under new management, foot traffic continued to drop.
A local investment group took over in 1995, hoping to revitalize the mall, but occupancy had already fallen to 45%.
To counteract the decline, developers introduced new tenants. In 1995, Service Merchandise and Goody’s Family Clothing opened inside the former Ames location.
The following year, AMC Theatres added a 20-screen multiplex at the end of the Parisian wing, bringing in evening crowds.
Despite these efforts, empty storefronts became more common.
Gayfers was acquired by Dillard’s in 1998, leading to a rebranding of the anchor store.
Meanwhile, other big-name retailers started leaving. Service Merchandise shut down in 1999, and Montgomery Ward closed in 2000 after the company declared bankruptcy.
The spaces left behind were repurposed, with Ross Dress for Less and Shoe Carnival moving into Service Merchandise’s old footprint and Burlington Coat Factory taking over Montgomery Ward’s location.
Feldman Mall Properties purchased the mall from Jones Lang LaSalle in 2005 and aimed to revive it.
Two years later, Belk acquired Parisian and rebranded the location, while Dillard’s shut down entirely in early 2008.
As the economy worsened, the mall’s situation deteriorated. Occupancy continued to shrink, and by 2011, the property had fallen into foreclosure.
A Miami-based real estate firm bought the ground lease for just $100, preventing a full shutdown but doing little to restore retail activity.
Over the next few years, empty spaces remained vacant, and the mall’s reputation as a “dead mall” grew.
Rebranding as the Centre of Tallahassee (2014-2017)
By 2014, developers decided to take a different approach.
The property, now owned by Blackwater Resources, underwent a multi-million-dollar redevelopment to transform it from a struggling mall into a mixed-use lifestyle center.
The plan included retail, dining, office space, and entertainment venues, shifting away from traditional indoor shopping.
The Tallahassee Mall was rebranded as the Centre of Tallahassee, signaling a departure from its past.
Renovations focused on creating a walkable, open-air experience inspired by European-style town squares.
Developers planned cobblestone streets, an outdoor amphitheater, and standalone shops surrounding the existing structures.
Retail space was repurposed. The former Dillard’s wing became home to the School of Arts and Sciences, a charter middle school.
New tenants included Urban Food Market, a mix of restaurants and specialty grocers, and a craft brewery.
At the same time, a liquor bar was added to the AMC Theatres, enhancing the entertainment options.
The outdoor amphitheater became a major draw, hosting concerts from Willie Nelson, Blink-182, Alice Cooper, and Dashboard Confessional between 2016 and 2018.
The venue attracted visitors from across Leon County and North Florida, bringing in more activity than the mall had seen in years.
Despite these efforts, some of the original plans stalled. Several small exterior shops were never built, and the entertainment district didn’t fully take off.
After Alex Baker, one of the project’s main developers and President of Blackwater Resources, passed away in 2017, momentum slowed.
While the Centre of Tallahassee had seen temporary success with events and new businesses, large portions of the property remained underutilized.
The mall’s transformation was incomplete, and its long-term future remained uncertain.
Shift Toward Office Space and Foreclosure (2018-2023)
After years of stalled redevelopment, the Centre of Tallahassee started moving in a different direction.
Retail never recovered, and by 2018, the focus shifted toward office space. Government agencies looking for a new home after leaving the deteriorating Northwood Centre turned their attention to the former mall.
The Florida Department of State, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Health began leasing large portions of the building, converting old storefronts into office units.
As more state offices moved in, longtime retailers were pushed out. Stone Age and GameScape, two businesses that had remained through the mall’s decline and attempted revival, relocated.
Burlington Coat Factory, one of the last major retailers left, also vacated its space.
By 2019, most of the interior mall had been repurposed, leaving only a few commercial spots, such as Belk and AMC Theatres, still operating.
Although the state leases brought steady tenants, the property’s financial struggles continued.
By August 2023, the Centre of Tallahassee was auctioned in a foreclosure sale.
The buyer, ACRC TFL Owner LLC, was already the property’s lender, meaning the sale was more of a legal formality than a true ownership change.
The mall was sold back to the lender for $12,100, an amount reflecting its debt restructuring rather than its actual value.
Shortly after the foreclosure, the remaining commercial businesses continued to dwindle.
In June 2024, Dreamland BBQ closed its location at the Centre, another sign of the transition from retail to office space.
While a few scattered retail plans still existed, the Centre of Tallahassee’s days as a shopping hub were long gone.
Office Complex Transition and Current Use (2024-Present)
With foreclosure behind it, the Centre of Tallahassee has almost entirely abandoned its retail origins.
Retail options are almost nonexistent. Belk still operates, but most of the other shopping spaces have been repurposed or are empty.
The AMC Theatres location remains open, though it’s now one of the last entertainment venues in the complex.
Other than these businesses, the mall portion of the Centre has mostly vanished.
Only a barber shop and a few vacant storefronts remain in what was once a busy retail corridor.
Some plans for commercial use have been floated, but few have materialized.
Discussions about adding a Culver’s and a Tom Thumb convenience store were held, but as of early 2025, little progress has been made.
Most of the exterior spaces intended for small shops in the 2014 redevelopment remain undeveloped or unused.
The property’s future remains unclear. The foreclosure sale cleared some financial hurdles, but the shift from retail to office space has already changed the property’s identity.
With state offices now filling most of the building, the Centre of Tallahassee is no longer a shopping destination.
Instead, it functions as a workplace, with only a handful of businesses left to serve the few visitors who still come by.
