WESLEY CHAPEL - When the developers of Cypress Creek Town Center announced its tenant lineup in late 2007, some retail brokers in the area whispered among themselves:

Whatever happened to Costco?

Marketing brochures distributed by the mall's representatives early last year advertised Costco as a potential tenant.

The retail giant has a store at Cypress Creek Town Center's sister mall near Fort Myers, the Gulf Coast Town Center, which also was developed by the Richard E. Jacobs Group.

In late November, after the release of Cypress Creek's official lineup, a top Tampa broker said he had been working on a lease deal for a client on the understanding from mall representatives that the 1-million-square-foot mall would include Costco.

"They gave me the site plan that includes a 150,663-square-foot 'big box' that I was told was Costco," said Patrick Berman, who heads retail brokerage at the Tampa firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Of course, it's not as if Cypress Creek Town Center is hurting for tenants.

Berman, who has been consistently bullish on the mall's prospects, said Cypress Creek Town Center has an impressive tenant list with or without Costco.

Its lineup now includes 42 names, dominated by SuperTarget, Kohl's, AMC Theatres, Books-A-Million, and at least 12 restaurants and food outlets.

But Costco would have been a coup, possibly the biggest box in a central Pasco neighborhood of three new malls.

And Costco is a store that has gained a certain cachet recently.

In November 2007, Costco scored a flattering profile in the New York Times about how its Washington, D.C., outlets were drawing an elite set of party hosts, including writer Sally Quinn, who is married to former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and defense policy adviser Richard Perle.

But Washington and New York are a long way away.

Closer to home, that 150,000-square-foot space in Cypress Creek Town Center remains empty. Jacobs Group officials say they will announce the tenant later.

Did the Jacobs Group lose Costco?

Bill Fullington, the developer's spokesman, said no.

"There was never a deal with Costco to talk about," he said.

Costco would only say that it has no plans currently to open a store in the Tampa Bay area in the next 11/2 years, spokesman Bob Nelson said Thursday.

Cypress Creek Town Center is due to open in fall 2008.

Costco already has 20 stores in Florida, which it calls "warehouses." The closest ones are in Clearwater and Brandon - just 20 miles from central Pasco down Interstate 75.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com or 813909-4613.