Plans for the $400M iSquare Mall project never launched, now the property has a new owner

Affiliates of Orlando-based Megan Dowdy Realty just took control of the site where developer Abdul Mathin tried to launch the financially troubled iSquare Mall + Hotel project on International Drive.

According to a deed recorded in Orange County, 5600 IDrive LLC and 5600 IDrive Eat LLC paid $18.6 million to acquire the International Shoppes retail center at 5600 International Dr. — meaning the roughly 73,000-square-foot shopping center sold for about $255 per square foot.

JLL’s John Krzyminski and Max Krzyminski represented both sides of the deal.

The seller is an entity tied to Southport, Connecticut-based Edgewood Capital, which took control of the property earlier this summer after Mathin’s International Shoppes LLC declared bankruptcy with $20 million of debt and $6.7 million of assets in its bankruptcy petition in 2017.

Krzyminski told GrowthSpotter, the new owners plan to maintain and upgrade the shopping center, which sold about 90 percent occupied. Its tenant roster includes a tourist information center, salon, spa, retail stores like Boot Barn and several restaurants.

Mathin owned the shopping center since 2007. In 2014 he announced plans to redevelop the property.

Since its inception, plans for the iSquare Mall + Hotel were tweaked multiple times, but at its core the project promised to deliver an ultra luxury mixed-use development featuring at least two hotels and more than a million square feet of upscale retail and restaurant space.

Renderings shown by the developer included a rooftop infinity pool and helicopter pad.

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