SEMINOLE — Residents and business owners have spent at least six years expecting something — anything — to happen to Seminole Mall.

But none of the rumors flying around the city ever came true. Now, however, it appears something is in the works — the mall is not renewing leases and some tenants have already moved out.

Juniper Duffin of RMC Property Group in Tampa, the mall's leasing agent, declined to comment and referred media questions to her colleague Ron Zielin. Zielin did not return a phone message asking for comment.

But Seminole Chamber of Commerce president Doc Kinsey said mall tenants "know for sure they're not giving out any leases.

"They haven't heard anything, and nobody knows what is going on," Kinsey said. "We have not heard anything. The city has not heard anything. ... Something's going on, but nobody's sure what."

The mall's future, he said, is the big topic in Seminole.

Mark Ely, the city's community development director, said the city has talked to the mall owners because officials get so many questions about the property.

"They haven't told me when they are going to apply (for permits) or if they are going to apply," Ely said.

Until documents are submitted, Ely said, he does not pay much attention to rumors about the mall's future, even if supplied by the property's owners.

"If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me they were going to do something with the mall, I would have retired by now," Ely said.

Ely said the mall's owner told him late Tuesday that because of financial problems in the banking industry, it would likely be at least two years before anything could be done.

The mall, at the corner of Park Boulevard and 113th Street N, is basically the city's downtown, or Main Street, and anchors the city. It was built in 1964 as an enclosed mall, a rarity today as malls are being designed with open groups of buildings that allow shoppers to drive up to stores and park nearby.

Its 425,292 square feet are anchored by a Publix, a Kmart and a Beall's department store. From Park Boulevard, the mall seems to be a busy place, but a closer look shows that many of the center's 2,064 parking spaces are empty. The food court is also generally vacant although walkers from Freedom Square and Seminole Gardens, two next-door facilities for seniors, frequent the property.

The approximately 39.3 acres were sold in 2002 to Seminole Mall Acquisitions LLC for $20.7-million. That's when rumors began about big changes at the mall.

The guessing game intensified in December 2006 when Downtown Seminole LLC, a Delaware corporation, bought the property for $35.7-million. Pinellas County tax records show the property is worth $27.5-million and brings in about $437,639 in property taxes each year.

Kinsey said guesses have included razing it to build condominiums or simply flattening it and starting over with new stores.