TU: Springfield is Surging

[Bill Hoff]

Good piece published in the Florida Times-Union about the on-going redevelopment of Springfield.

Rebirth of Jacksonville's oldest neighborhood continues at a fast clip, with plenty of commercial development and real estate growth: https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20191114/build-out-surging-in-springfield

Here are a few segments...

Coffey said colleagues in Miami thought she was "crazy" to relocate from her well-established office in South Florida to Springfield four years ago. She became the sole team member for Compass in Northeast Florida last year, after falling in love with the Springfield area and recognizing its potential as being like that of Miami before its boom.

"There were precursors. [Jacksonville Jaguars owner] Shad Khan's vision for downtown, historic buildings like the Laura Street Trio seeing new life, the Cowford Chophouse and now a dozen other new restaurants and breweries, the Phoenix Arts District ... you can see it coming together."

....

Indeed, the classic real estate adage "retail follows rooftops," while not always true, seems to be taking hold in Springfield. Eric Adler, managing director of Silver Street Capital, which focuses on undervalued residential and mixed-use properties in the Southeast and owns the building housing Southern Moss, said the area is going through "a surge of commercial real estate activity."

Interest has picked up dramatically over the past 24 months for Main Street storefronts in particular, he noted, with nearly a dozen new businesses opening in or moving to the area, including 1748 Bakehouse, Bobby K Boutique and Crispy's Springfield Gallery.

....

While prices remain attractive, things are changing fast, Coffey noted. After some cooling over the summer, prices in Springfield are picking up again. Renovated homes that would have sold for $120 a square foot not too long ago now command $170 a square foot.

"Two years ago, nothing sold here over $400,000, but now we're selling in the fives and sixes and sevens for single-family homes," she said. "There's a huge group of investors from out of town, South Florida, looking to buy, renovate and sell in Springfield. I would say 50 percent who are renovating now are not local. People in Jacksonville may think it's crazy, but someone in Miami thinks it's the hippest thing they ever heard."

[acme54321]

I'm sure it's doing better than it has been but compared to the other historic neighborhoods it still seems to be lagging behind.

[MusicMan]

It's been a great run in Springfield, but there's acres of vacant lots on Main Street between 1st and 8th...... That being said I listed a cute renovated bungalow and had it under contract in 8 days at 95% of asking price.  And some of the recent sales I've seen in the high $300,000's and $400,000 were really spectacular properties.  They would have been at least $100,000 more in RAP.

[MusicMan]

I know that agent, and I like her, but I searched Single family SOLD north of $400,000 in the last 18 months and there are 7, none over $500,000......

Among my favorites:   236 W 6th Street at $442,500   and     335 W 6th Street   at $396,500   (Listed at $403,000)

[remc86007]

I'm sure it's doing better than it has been but compared to the other historic neighborhoods it still seems to be lagging behind.

While Springfield is still lagging behind Riverside and San Marco in some respects, I think it has experienced more growth in a shorter period of time than either of them have. The rate of change is what is so crazy about Springfield. Five points didn't go from 5 businesses to 15 in less than two years like Main Street.

It seems to me the biggest thing holding back Springfield's commercial development is that fact that one or two people own most of the property along Main Street and are sitting on it. Once they start to sell or develop, Springfield has the potential for significant increases in residential density to support further commercial growth.

[thelakelander]

There is a reason Springfield would appear to lag behind Riverside and San Marco in redevelopment. Unlike the other two neighborhoods, it was red lined along with nearby African-American communities for most of the Jim Crow era. Because of this, it also became the dumping ground social service facilities while the other two didn't. So it's likely 50 years behind in terms of playing on the same economic playing field. However, it may not actually lag behind.....it's just had more challenges to overcome and its revitalization process began at a much lower level than the other two communities.

To ensure that these mortgages were not risky, the HOLC created color-coded "residential security maps" of 239 cities. The maps essentially highlighted the neighborhoods that were good investments versus neighborhoods that were poor investments. The "risky" neighborhoods were highlighted in red, including every one of the 239 cities' black neighborhoods.

We must remember that, because everyone was poor during the Great Depression, these maps did not reflect economic status. In fact, upscale black neighborhoods like LaVilla and Sugar Hill in Jacksonville, Fla., home to Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Zora Neale Hurston, were deemed "too risky," by the HOLC.

But instead of using these maps only for HOLC refinances, which would have been racist in and of itself, banks began using these maps for all home purchases and refinances. Again, with Jim Crow segregation in place, blacks couldn't simply move to the non-redlined, white neighborhoods. So, because of this, as generations of Americans lifted themselves out of poverty, black people could not take part in the primary driver of wealth, homeownership.

Redlining was outlawed in 1968 by the Fair Housing Act, but it still affects almost every economic aspect of black communities to this day.

https://www.theroot.com/redlining-the-origin-story-of-institutional-racism-1834308539

[MusicMan]

"Wait. Someone in the real estate profession was being less than truthful?"

Now you know SMM that the same can be said of those folks in the Financial Services Industry.......

[Bill Hoff]

I wasn't interested in the specific numbers, but more so that so that (a) many out of town investors are doing the redevelopment work in the neighborhood, and (b) how investments -both finished & planned- in the general area have been a factor.

[ProjectMaximus]

I did check out some listings though....might as well be called Flipfield! Good times for flippers and agents. I hope the buyers are doing their due diligence though.

I think Springflip is the proper parlance.

[Bill Hoff]

There is a reason Springfield would appear to lag behind Riverside and San Marco in redevelopment. Unlike the other two neighborhoods, it was red lined along with nearby African-American communities for most of the Jim Crow era. Because of this, it also became the dumping ground social service facilities while the other two didn't. So it's likely 50 years behind in terms of playing on the same economic playing field. However, it may not actually lag behind.....it's just had more challenges to overcome and its revitalization process began at a much lower level than the other two communities.

To ensure that these mortgages were not risky, the HOLC created color-coded "residential security maps" of 239 cities. The maps essentially highlighted the neighborhoods that were good investments versus neighborhoods that were poor investments. The "risky" neighborhoods were highlighted in red, including every one of the 239 cities' black neighborhoods.

We must remember that, because everyone was poor during the Great Depression, these maps did not reflect economic status. In fact, upscale black neighborhoods like LaVilla and Sugar Hill in Jacksonville, Fla., home to Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Zora Neale Hurston, were deemed "too risky," by the HOLC.

But instead of using these maps only for HOLC refinances, which would have been racist in and of itself, banks began using these maps for all home purchases and refinances. Again, with Jim Crow segregation in place, blacks couldn't simply move to the non-redlined, white neighborhoods. So, because of this, as generations of Americans lifted themselves out of poverty, black people could not take part in the primary driver of wealth, homeownership.

Redlining was outlawed in 1968 by the Fair Housing Act, but it still affects almost every economic aspect of black communities to this day.

https://www.theroot.com/redlining-the-origin-story-of-institutional-racism-1834308539

Yea, I was going to say - no sh!t its behind the other successful historic neighborhoods in terms of redevelopment & overall health, as it was arguably considered "the worst" neighborhood in the entire city for a couple decades, and not too long ago. It doesn't have waterfront property or another healthy, successful neighborhood adjacent to it. It's sort of miracle it's become a relatively desirable place to live, considering.

[MusicMan]

Bill it's definitely moving in the right direction. I want you to know I'm trying to get a grocery store over there and it's still a challenge considering the "demographics". There's still a lot of poor people within a 2-3 mile radius of Main and 8th Street.

That being said I totally get that Miami investors love it.................it's cheap compared to South Florida!

[thelakelander]

Poor people will be within a 2-3 mile radius for years to come. That whole section of town has been discriminated against for well over a century and many of our current policies still don't do it any favors. Red lining, poor maintenance of public facilities, discriminatory zoning policies, brownfield sites, 1960s era expressways plowed all over the place, lack of preservation resources, best areas being blasted for urban renewal, public housing, poor political leadership over the years, poor public school situation dating back to Jim Crow and how DCPS handled desegregation, etc. the list goes on.  Then many adjacent communities like the Eastside and Durkeeville, which date back to the 1869s, aren't going anywhere and are working to ensure they're long time residents aren't displaced in the same manner as LaVilla's and Brooklyn's residents. Because of all these systematic factors and more, this is an area where I can see the grocery situation being resolved with a non traditional solution because the demographics will be what they are for the foreseeable future.

[Steve]

I want you to know I'm trying to get a grocery store over there and it's still a challenge considering the "demographics". There's still a lot of poor people within a 2-3 mile radius of Main and 8th Street.

I think this is years down the road but I wonder at some point if a Downtown store is built by someone (maybe not Publix) for Brooklyn and Springfield. Fresh Market is nice but not an every day grocery store. Brooklyn does have the Riverside Publix, but they're equidistant to downtown.

[MusicMan]

Lake, I'm trying to explain WHY there is no Grocery company willing to take root in Springfield. Talk to any investor/developer... they will tell you, re-gentrification of the heart of Springfield alone is not enough YET to get Publix to  go into Main Street.

[thelakelander]

Of course. Springfield alone is less than 5,000 residents and that number falls with gentrification due to lower household sizes. When I did work for Publix anchored developments, it was said a store needed a market of 20,000 residents or so. To add to the gap, there is already a grocery store at State/Market/Union which eats into both Springfield and DT's grocery store dreams. Both will need to explore local opportunities and community oriented solutions instead of wishing for a popular chain to fill the void.