The Markets At Town Center Revisited
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1390802984_KQ7TCPg-L.jpg)
The extension to the St. John's Town Center that blends high-end restaurants, casual eateries, chain stores, boutique retail, and nightlife in an extremely compact setting, is still growing. Metro Jacksonville takes a look at the functioning plaza now.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-aug-the-markets-at-town-center-revisited
Nice article and insight.
Good article.
I've become a big fan of Suite.
Beard's Jewelry had been on Hendricks for what seemed like forever... they finally had no choice but to move to the Town Center, according to the guy behind the counter. Love it or hate it, the Town Center is obviously doing something right that downtown ain't.
Yes, it's being a shopping center. Downtown, on the other hand, is a sick neighborhood. They are two completely different animals.
nothing better than all that outside seating over looking a parking lot!
Pollo Tropical has been a good addition. That place is packed all day.
Quote from: copperfiend on August 08, 2011, 09:55:27 AM
Pollo Tropical has been a good addition. That place is packed all day.
Hopefully it leads to a few more locations around town.
^ There is one under construction on San Jose on a WalMart outparcel.
You missed the biggest development at Markets... the Shell station going in opposit of BJ's Brewery. That is going to make awful, assinine traffic patterns even worse.
What's good about Markets=Librettos. Blackfinn is decent
What's bad about Markets=everything else
Whoever said Suite is good should have their head re-examined. The food is GOD-AWFUL and the drinks are EXTREMELY overpriced and the servers are laughingly incompetent.
Great article and photos. I really like the later phrase Simon Mall Properties did with this one than the beginning where it was plain and vision-lacking plus lack of attention to little details such as making it more pedestrian friendly.
I want to make a statement about Pollo Tropical. That place is losing its quality in food like bunch of flies dropping FAST. I have ate over 10 times in the past 3 months, and each dish I usually order just worse one visit after another visit.
The Pollo Tropicial's location in the Town Center is one of the worst kind of development you can possibly pull off because of the how hard to access to the location (You have to turn in after the red light or turn right way before the restaurant to get inside the zone, THEN drive through another restaurant or business to get there - CVS and Zaxby's) AND how limited the parking are considering the capacity the restaurant is operating on.
Seriously, there are so much tiny dysfunctional developments going on in the SJ Town Center that I would not be surprised to see a huge vacuum pulled on the Town Center that would ultimately bring the end of the Town Center. I would go further and say that the indoor malls will come back and be popular again.
History repeats itself, always.
Therefore, I will be sipping my sweet tea with extra lemon and ice in a mason jar and sit back to watch this continuing development folding out.
Good day,
-Josh
Quote from: fieldafm on August 08, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
You missed the biggest development at Markets... the Shell station going in opposit of BJ's Brewery. That is going to make awful, assinine traffic patterns even worse.
Whoever said Suite is good should have their head re-examined. The food is GOD-AWFUL and the drinks are EXTREMELY overpriced and the servers are laughingly incompetent.
1. COMPLETELY agree with the Shell station... Not understanding the logic of putting one there when there is one just on the opposite side of JTB. What they should've done is put a gas station along Town Center Parkway closer towards 9A & UNF where there is no gas station...
2. Who goes to Suite to eat? Honestly, I didn't even know they sold food there...lol Drink prices are insane though...
QuoteThe Markets at Town Center will feature:
450 Residential Units
Really???
Where??
What about the Mellow Mushroom/Burrito Gallery??
Quote from: fieldafm on August 08, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
Whoever said Suite is good should have their head re-examined. The food is GOD-AWFUL and the drinks are EXTREMELY overpriced and the servers are laughingly incompetent.
While there is likely a myriad of other legitimate reasons that I need to have my head examined, I stand by my opinion of Suite :)
I wouldn't go there to eat (I think they stop serving food at 10:00), so I can't speak for the food or the servers, but as a lounge/club, it's easily one of the nicer spots in Jacksonville. I like that they enforce a dress code, the crowd is largely young and educated, and they play pretty good music. Sure, if you want a liquid nitrogen infused martini, they are going to charge you an arm and a leg, but for a couple of beers or a mixed drink, I haven't noticed the prices being any worse than some of the other spots around the city.
Since BJs uses the term "high-energy" twice to describe themselves, what exactly does that mean?
QuoteWho goes to Suite to eat?
Clients who want to go out at Happy Hour after work... and they also routinely hold young professional events there. Believe me, I've been subjected to their food on quite a few occassions.
The draft beer selection is laughable, the bottled beer selection just as bare and the prices they serve for top shelf and well drinks are insane. I can get a GREAT drink(that is actually prepared correctly) at Dos Gatos using premier liquor for the price of a low end martini at Suite.
Also, if you host an event there and bring say 32 people(just a number thrown out of thin air ;) ), they have a policy where if you negotiate a special drink menu for your guests YOU have to pay the tab. So that means if each person spends $20-40 on drinks... you have to get them to pay you cash b/c Suite will charge your credit card and your credit card alone to be eligible for your negotiated pricing. Pardon me for giving you business. ::)
God help you if you're party's cocktail waitress is alive. I would much rather them not show up to work. I have done everything from go next door to Librettos to get condiments b/c the waitress would forget multiple times, gone to the other side of the place outside a reserved area just to get a drink b/c again the waitress would forget multiple times, have spent 20 minutes chasing our server around just to PAY a bill when I was late for another event and have made my complaints to management on more than one occassion only to have the manager defend their business instead of just FIXING the problem.
Yes, they suck.
Blackfinn is nice and accomodates their guests in an entirely professional manner. Maybe they do that b/c their employees are less concerned about how their cleavage looks than to worry about putting out a quality product.
Quote from: fieldafm on August 08, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
You missed the biggest development at Markets... the Shell station going in opposit of BJ's Brewery. That is going to make awful, assinine traffic patterns even worse.
What's good about Markets=Librettos. Blackfinn is decent
What's bad about Markets=everything else
Whoever said Suite is good should have their head re-examined. The food is GOD-AWFUL and the drinks are EXTREMELY overpriced and the servers are laughingly incompetent.
I wrote it under a photo actually. Read slower ;)
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 08, 2011, 10:58:53 AM
QuoteThe Markets at Town Center will feature:
450 Residential Units
Really???
Where??
What about the Mellow Mushroom/Burrito Gallery??
This will come in the update article as noted at the bottom!
QuoteI wrote it under a photo actually. Read slower
Fair enough :)
i ate at black finn last time i was in the town center, quite delicious. I saw SUITE and thought it was like a hotel or something from the distance. Terrible signage for tapas! If I would have known I could've had tapas I probably would have gone there instead, because I love tapas. Who would think a sign saying nothing but "SUITE" served tapas... weird.
Just as a heads up, there is now "something" in the old comp USA down on southside. Can't remember what, but it is occupied. Small victories!
Quote from: St. Auggie on August 08, 2011, 03:36:46 PM
Just as a heads up, there is now "something" in the old comp USA down on southside. Can't remember what, but it is occupied. Small victories!
Circle K Furniture.
According to the CompUSA website there is still a Regency location.
Any article featuring the Town Center area, que the obligatory posts bitching about the parking/access. Funny thing is that I have no problem getting to any of those places.
I don't think anyone has said anything about SJTC parking in this article.
There is an abundance of parking. Traffic getting into and out of, and anywhere around the Town Center is what truly sucks.
Quote from: Duke on August 08, 2011, 10:53:17 AM
Quote from: fieldafm on August 08, 2011, 10:35:21 AM
You missed the biggest development at Markets... the Shell station going in opposit of BJ's Brewery. That is going to make awful, assinine traffic patterns even worse.
Whoever said Suite is good should have their head re-examined. The food is GOD-AWFUL and the drinks are EXTREMELY overpriced and the servers are laughingly incompetent.
2. Who goes to Suite to eat? Honestly, I didn't even know they sold food there...lol Drink prices are insane though...
You might want to give Bold City Grille just around the corner by the library a shot. They have a really good happy hour, and of course, have BCB on tap.