Pointe Orlando is an outdoor shopping center, located in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. It is located at 9101

International Drive International Drive, commonly known as I-Drive, is a major thoroughfare in Orlando, Florida, United States, and is the city's main tourist strip. I-Drive is located several miles southwest of proper Downtown Orlando in the southernmost limits ...

, adjacent to the

Orange County Convention Center The Orange County Convention Center is a convention center located in Orlando, Florida. Opened in 1983 as the Orange County Convention and Civic Center, it is the primary public convention center for the Central Florida region and the second-lar ...

History

Pointe Orlando originally opened on August 2, 1997 at a cost of $120 million, anchored by a flagship

FAO Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States, ...

toy store. A

Muvico Muvico Theaters was a movie theater chain headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

theater, and a host of

theme restaurants A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other techn ...

popular at the time opened later in the year and into 1998. The property was besieged by numerous delays in construction, with only a handful of businesses opening with the property. Several proposed restaurants, ranging from a

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

-owned operation to an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

-themed restaurant never materialized. Another anchor, a

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

entertainment center, opened in 1998 and remains in operation. A significant vacant plot of land existed near the property's entrance into 2000, originally intended for a

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

flagship store. XS, a

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

-owned entertainment center concept, opened on the land in 2001 in a standalone building. Since opening, the property has experience significant tenant turnover, including the closure of FAO Schwarz in 2004. XS was rebranded as Pac-Man Cafe in 2004, only to close in 2005. Both closures led to a $40 million renovation of the property in 2005, which included the demolition of a majority of the International Drive-facing retail space to accommodate new tenants. The renovation brought several new tenants to the property, including

The Capital Grille The Capital Grille is an American restaurant chain of upscale steakhouses owned by Darden Restaurants. The brand has locations in twenty-five states, the District of Columbia, and Mexico City. History The original Capital Grille was founded ...

and The Oceanaire Seafood Room in place of FAO Schwarz, a

Maggiano's Little Italy Maggiano's Little Italy is an American casual dining Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article ...

in place of the Pac-Man Cafe, and a

Tommy Bahama Tommy Bahama Group Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer of casual men's and women's sportswear and activewear, denim, swimwear, accessories, footwear and a complete home furnishings collection. Its parent company is Oxford Industries. ...

restaurant and retail store facing International Drive. The property's Muvico theaters were purchased by

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...

in 2007 and renovated in tandem with the mall renovation. The renovation sparked a brief renaissance at the property, but momentum wore off not soon after. Several prominent additions to the property as part of the 2005 renovation closed, including

RA Sushi is an American restaurant company founded by Hiroaki Aoki in New York City in 1964 and currently based in Aventura, Florida. It owns or franchises 116 Japanese-influenced restaurants around the world, including its flagship Benihana Teppanya ...

and

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with ...

, while Tommy Bahama relocated to the competing

Disney Springs Disney Springs (previously known as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village in 1975, Walt Disney World Village in 1977, Disney Village Marketplace in 1989, and Downtown Disney in 1997) is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the W ...

development in 2018. One major new addition occurred in 2016 with the addition of a

Main Event Entertainment Main Event Entertainment is an American chain of family entertainment centers. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, it operates 50 locations in 17 states, predominantly in the Southern United States, and feature attractions and features such as bowli ...

center, which took over 48,000 square-feet of vacant space at the property. However, business at the property continued to stagnate, leading to the announcement of an additional $32 million renovation project in 2019. The property would be renamed The Pointe upon completion of the renovation.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 28, 25, 57, N, 81, 28, 13, W, region:US-FL, display=title Shopping malls in Florida Buildings and structures in Orlando, Florida Tourist attractions in Orlando, Florida Shopping malls established in 1998 1998 establishments in Florida