West Oaks Mall is 30 years old and still open, which is more than many enclosed malls of its age can say.
It opened in 1996 on the State Road 50 corridor west of Orlando, a conventional regional shopping center big enough for 125 stores.
Staying open meant it lost what it was originally made for. In 2012, it sold for roughly $16 million, a distressed price for a 1.1 million-square-foot mall, and the new owner shifted away from simply replacing the department stores…