Malls Are Making a Comeback: What It Means for CRE
Bryan Richardson
| October, 2026
The Mall Story Is Changing
For most of the last decade, the headline was the death of the American mall. That headline is getting harder to write. National mall occupancy climbed to 90.7% by mid-2025, up from a low of 85% in early 2022.¹ Indoor mall foot traffic grew again in 2025, and the average visit now lasts about 73 minutes.¹
The comeback is real, but it isn’t universal. The malls winning today look very different from the ones that have struggled.
A Market Split in Two
The recovery is concentrated at the top. Class A malls currently sit at roughly 95% occupancy, compared with 89% for Class B and 72% for Class C and below.² Top-tier malls also pushed average base rents up 4.5% in 2025, versus 1.1% for everyone else.¹
Despite the headwinds from online giants like Amazon and rising gas prices, shoppers are still showing up. Indoor malls were the only major mall format to post year-over-year visit gains in all four quarters of 2025.² That momentum carried into 2026, with open-air center visits up 7.3% and outlet visits up 7.2% year over year in February.³
What separates winners from those who continue to struggle is reinvention. The malls gaining ground are adding restaurants, entertainment, medical users and housing, giving people more reasons to visit and more reasons to stay.
Central Florida Has the Fundamentals
Locally, the backdrop is strong. Orlando retail vacancy sat at 4.7% in Q2 2026, with average triple-net asking rents of $31.24 per square foot.⁴ Orlando retail investment volume rose 89% year over year in the first half of 2026.⁴
Tight supply means well-positioned retail space is in demand. It also gives older centers that adapt a real opportunity to capture tenants who can’t find space elsewhere.
Oviedo Mall: A Case Study in Reinvention
Oviedo Mall is one of the clearest local examples of that shift. FCPG works alongside Kevin Hipes, the mall’s director of development, on leasing and property management at the property.⁵
In late June, the mall’s four property owners signed a construction, operation and reciprocal easement agreement. That cleared the way for Picerne Real Estate Group’s 360-unit Oasis at Oviedo Marketplace apartments on the former Macy’s site, a project valued at roughly $125 million.⁵ A second 328-unit community is planned on 14 acres west of the mall.⁵
The redevelopment also includes a new entrance along the east wing, envisioned as a business and medical main street. Orlando Orthopaedic Center already operates there in 16,000 square feet.⁵
The tenant mix inside is evolving, too. Bruder Latin Restaurant & Brewery opened in May after a $1.5 million buildout, joined by Yuji Sushi, Fire & Glaze pottery studio, Martial Arts Nation and other local, experience-driven concepts.⁶ Indoor occupancy has climbed to 90% of leasable square footage, excluding the former Sears building.⁶ And this month, Toys “R” Us returns to Central Florida with a year-round store at the mall, part of the brand’s plan to open 120 standalone stores nationwide.⁷
The demographics support the strategy. Within a 10-mile radius, the mall draws on an average annual income of $136,430 and a daytime population of 148,267.⁵
What It Means for Owners, Investors and Tenants
For owners, waiting on a traditional anchor is rarely the best plan. Value creation now comes from rethinking the property’s role and adding uses that drive daily traffic and diversify income.
For investors, mall assets with redevelopment potential, strong demographics and aligned ownership deserve a fresh look, especially in supply-constrained markets like Orlando.
For tenants, repositioned malls offer something increasingly rare in Central Florida: available space with built-in traffic and a landlord invested in the property’s future. At Oviedo Mall, suites of 1,300 to 5,000 square feet are available along the medical main street and retail wing,⁵ and a specialty leasing program offers short term lease options for local startup tenants.
The Takeaway
Malls aren’t coming back as they were. They’re coming back as mixed-use destinations built around experience, convenience and community, and the properties that adapt are capturing tenants, traffic and capital.
If you’re exploring space at Oviedo Mall or weighing the repositioning potential of your own retail asset, the FCPG team can help you find the right strategy.
Sources
1. Coresight Research, as reported in “High-End Malls Are Thriving With Experiential Retail,” The Real Deal, May 2026.
2. “Top-Tier Malls Attract Shoppers and Capital as Others Face Demolition,” PYMNTS, February 2026 (citing Cushman & Wakefield and Placer.ai).
3. “Placer.ai February 2026 Mall Index: Are Outlet Malls Making a Comeback?,” Placer.ai, 2026.
4. “Florida retail space grows as demand stays strong,” Florida Realtors, Oct. 7, 2026 (citing Colliers, 2026 The State of Florida Retail).
5. “Oviedo Mall to launch redevelopment, apartment construction with new agreement,” Orlando Business Journal, July 6, 2026.
6. “Fire & Glaze, Beyond Dusk Apparel to open at Oviedo Mall,” Orlando Business Journal, July 18, 2026.
7. “Oviedo Mall reveals details on Toys ‘R’ Us return to Central Florida,” Orlando Business Journal, Oct. 1, 2026.