The Curse of Stall Road and Dale Mabry

For years, the Carrollwood intersection of Stall Road and North Dale Mabry Highway has seen businesses prosper or fail.

A closing business, whether big box or mom-and-pop, isn't much of a surprise to local communities, considering the economic downturn. But at that intersection, there's been a recent exodus that included two chain restaurants and a bookstore gone bankrupt, leaving behind an abandoned aesthetic in the midst of bustling North Dale Mabry Highway's wide array of retail and restaurants.

While developers are eager to acquire the trio of vacant properties along north Tampa's busiest roadway where Denny's, Perkins and Borders bookstore once stood, Carrollwood residents are left to wonder: Is the intersection of Stall Road and North Dale Mabry cursed?

"It always seems to have been a tough corner," said Noreen Klein, a resident of Carrollwood since 1983 and president of the Carrollwood Area Business Association. "Perkins was never full. They had good pies, and it was a nice place to go for breakfast. Denny's I think got squashed out by the nice, newer buildings around it."

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Tampa real estate agent Andrew Duncan, of Re/Max Dynamic, said it's not uncommon to see pockets of local businesses bust. He said the fact that the intersection hasn't been able to succeed is more coincidence than curse.

"I don't think it has to do with that area," he said. "Some businesses had not-so-profitable business models, and it's a good location - but not a phenomenal one."

Duncan said that Perkins didn't upgrade its architecture, which may have caused fewer customers to stop by.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see another restaurant there," he said. "I think the real estate market there is stable, believe it or not."

The structures where the two restaurants once stood were built about three decades ago, while what used to be Borders was built in 1996, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's website.

The bookstore at 12500 N. Dale Mabry Highway filed for bankruptcy protection in February, and closed both its Dale Mabry locations in April. A spokesman who answered the "brokers protected" phone number on a sign out front said there are interested buyers, and that a new business could appear in about two months. He wouldn't say what the business could be.

Across the street, at the corner of Stall Road and North Dale Mabry, construction crews work afternoons at what used to be Denny's restaurant, 12703 N. Dale Mabry Highway, after its closure this fall. Officials at Hawkins Construction Inc.  wouldn't say what would go into the building once occupied by the once-popular chain restaurant.

Next to Borders at what was once Perkins restaurant, 12650 N. Dale Mabry Highway, the scene is quieter after its closure in 2010, with few signs of life at the vacant property that still boasts the dark green awnings the chain is known for.

But that could soon change, according to Chuck Pazman, vice president of Charles Wayne Properties, Inc., a commercial real estate firm handling the future of the old Perkins.

"We've had more interest there than we can handle," he said. "We're under final negotiations with a new tenant now."

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While the intersection appears almost abandoned, Maj. Ray Lawton of District 3 at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said crime hasn't been a problem since, or before, the three businesses closed.

"It's not necessarily a crime problem out there," he said. "I don't think there's anything other than the business models failed."

Long-time residents like Klein of CABA say the only time the intersection thrived was about 15 years ago, with a pub that stood where Verizon Wireless is now.

In the future, she said the intersection could thrive if something that allowed for larger groups to congregate were built in that area, like a banquet hall.

"You'd think St. Paul's (Catholic Church) would attract people," she said of the church, which is just south of the intersection. "Maybe if they had something to bring in the church crowd, that area would work."