The Oviedo Mall opened for business in 1997, and now, 25 years later, it looks much different than it did back then.

To fill empty spaces and make up for financial shortfalls, the mall started leasing space to new types of tenants as part of a $100 million redevelopment plan.

Now, it’s become a bustling scene for local business.

The mall's new approach created a perfect opportunity for James Brendlinger, owner and producer of Penguin Point Productions, who cast himself a big role in the mall’s redevelopment.

Trips to Costco and truckloads of concessions are part of a theater company director's regular routine.

Brendlinger, a former Lake Howell High School drama teacher, said he knows this is just one small part of what it takes to run his dream business.

But at first, it was hard to find his dream a home.

“So, I wanted to have a free-standing studio somewhere in Winter Park," he said. "That was my original idea, and every real estate person I talked to, the price was so high, I couldn’t even think about it. It wasn’t something I even had to consider.”

Then, he struck a deal he couldn’t believe with the Oviedo Mall.

The once-thriving mall was slowing down, and looking for tenants to fill the empty spaces. 

The mall is where Brendlinger, a Pennsylvania native, spent a lot of his time when he first moved to Florida in 1997 — and it's a place he’s been coming back to ever since.

“I came to the mall on the first day it opened, because there was supposed to be celebrities here for the opening," he said. "And I remember going to see Titanic here in the movie theater.”

He loves the movies, but more than anything, he loves the stage.

So Brendlinger was thrilled to be able to run six different storefronts to his theater company and his passions for the arts, right there in the mall.

“Before the pandemic, I wouldn’t have dreamed of having this much space in the mall to be able to stretch out into something like this," he said. "This is just being able to live a little bit of a dream.”

Just as he’s been excited to see his dream come to life, mall marketing coordinator Josh Gunderson has been thrilled to see the new life that tenants like Brendlinger bring to the mall.

Gunderson said there are now 45 local businesses in the mall, outnumbering the corporate chains.

“I mean, really the biggest misconception for us is that we are a dead mall, that nothing goes on here," said Gunderson. "In reality, we’re at over 90% capacity for the mall. We’ve got so much going on here, new entertainment offerings, new businesses, and it’s really just that people need to change their conception of what a mall is.”

While the mall focuses on rebranding and revitalization, Brendlinger keeps his focus on what’s next — which for him involves opening a coffee shop, and aiming toward an even larger stage.

Everything he’s done so far has made him feel like a star.

“Doing theater for a living, having a creative space you can share with other people, helping build community in the place that I live — I think all of those things are a dream come true," said Brendlinger.