'Stigma' of North Jacksonville erodes after new businesses move in - and there's room for more.
The land had stood vacant, just pasture and woods, for so long, especially odd since it sat at a major exit of Interstate 95 with Jacksonville International Airport just a few miles away. Sure, there had been plans and false starts.
When construction trucks finally started rolling in to build River City Marketplace, real estate agent Jason Ryals said the word was that they'd get flat tires from all the champagne bottles broken during past ground-breakings.
But the trucks rolled, the shopping center opened three years ago last week and has continued to grow. More businesses have sprouted up nearby. Fast-food places line both sides of Airport Center Drive, which has now been extended east to Starratt Road, four lanes where there had been none.
Two large apartment complexes have been built next door. A new hotel opened just across the road three months ago. Things are starting to heat up around the corner on Main Street.
And the heart of it is something that North Jacksonville has never had: a really big shopping center. River City Marketplace opened with 55 stores and restaurants, and is now up to almost 70. Only three outlying parcels remain; the center's developer, Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, has purchased another 120 acres across the street with plans to build another 300,000 square feet of more stores and restaurants.
When Starwood Hotels went looking for a place to build its trendy Aloft hotel that would cater to airport traffic, it picked property east of I-95 rather than right next to the airport.
"The reason we're on this side of the interstate," general manager Robert Rose said, "is because of River City Marketplace. It gives our guests plenty of options."
The 136-room, $18 million hotel opened in August, and Rose said business is already better than expected. Most of their customers are business travelers who fly into Jacksonville and stay at Aloft while doing their business elsewhere in town.
The hotel offers a shuttle to the shopping center, but Rose said most of their guests prefer to walk.
Several things came together to make the shopping center successful and the surrounding area grow so quickly. First of all, there wasn't any large retail up there. The closest full mall and movie theaters were at Regency Square.
Second, North Jacksonville was growing.
"Ten years ago," said Joe Whittaker of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, "there was a real stigma about North Jacksonville. People thought it was not as desirable as other parts.
"But Dames Point bridge and other roads helped open access," he said, "and people moving to Jacksonville from other places didn't see the stigma. They saw it as a great place to live.
"With 9A and 295, you have access to the entire region. You're within 15-20 minutes of any place you want to go. You can't say that about Eagle Harbor or Fleming Island."
Throw in lower prices and the result, Whittaker said, was that North Jacksonville was the fastest-growing area of Duval County until the bottom fell out and all growth stopped.
'Retail and rooftops'
The area's location on Jacksonville's northern perimeter also made it accessible to those who live north of Jacksonville.
Jeff Kellogg, general manager of River City Marketplace, said he did a study that showed about 30 percent of its visitors come from Nassau County and Southeast Georgia.
Of course, the shopping center itself is drawing not just shoppers, but residents.
A.G. Spanos Cos. had an option on a piece of land but didn't finalize the sale or start to build its two apartment complexes, Mirador at River City and Stovall at River City, until it knew that the shopping center was coming.
"Retail and rooftops feed off each other," said Hardy Gillespie, Florida division manager for Spanos, the company that also owns the San Diego Chargers.
Gillespie lives in Tampa now, but he grew up in Jacksonville.
"When I went back to Jacksonville, I looked at the Southside, like everyone else," he said. "But I didn't find anything I liked."
The two complexes, which are right next to the shopping center, have 552 units between them. The Mirador, which opened almost two years ago, is at 90 percent occupancy. The Stovall, which opened this past March, is also doing well.
Even with the recent growth, there is no shortage of land for sale in the area.
Gary Montour of Colliers Dickinson realty said his company has five more parcels for sale right around the center, ranging from $700,000 to $1.5 million. And there is money to be made. He said one investor bought a piece of land for $4 million and sold it a year later for $7.4 million.
He expects most of his parcels to become fast food or auto tuneup places.
"It's pretty much going to be a franchise," he said.
A piece of the past
It's not all changing, of course. Dale's Beer Bucket, just around the corner on Main Street, is still a slice of what North Main Street was before the chain stores moved in: Motorcycle flags out front, Willie Nelson singing inside on the jukebox "You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind ..."
Dale Lawson has run it for four or five months, but she worked in the series of bars that came and went through that building over the past 10 years: Shipwrecks, HJ's Misbehavin' and Fridaddy's. Four or five months ago, she leased it herself, called it Dale's Beer Bucket. Tuesdays are steak night; it's fried fish on Friday.
"Most are the same people we've had here for the last 10 years."
She is a little worried about development coming in, but she's got a one-year lease.
David Deloach, who owns the building, the trailer park next door and the 1.87 acres they sit on, is trying to sell it. He makes no secret about that.
"I've had two contracts on it," he said, "but neither one closed."
Development on the west side of Main Street is virtually eliminated by the railroad tracks that closely parallel the road there. And Deloach said that much of the property around him is held in small tracts, not big enough for the large retailers to move in.
Montour said that's OK.
"It's going to be a feeding frenzy on Main Street," he said. "It won't be huge businesses. It'll be Family Dollars and auto parts stores, but it'll be places that didn't consider going up there before."
Whittaker said he thinks the real growth on Main Street is likely to start about three miles north at Pecan Park Road simply because larger parcels are available there.
And, in fact, the stretch between Airport Center and Pecan Park is lined with big signs that sit in front of empty land and closed businesses offering tracts of five, six and seven acres for sale.
Whittaker said the JEDC has been encouraging the Florida Department of Transportation to widen Main Street to four lanes from New Berlin Road north to Pecan Park.
"A lot of the growth is coming outside Duval County," he said, "and the traffic will come right through there."
http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-11-22/story/river_city_marketplace_leads_a_north_jacksonville_renaissance
Making Main Street wider and wider really won't solve anything. If the Marketplace is looking for new shoppers we need the lot/s at Main/Airport Center at the railroad converted into park-and-ride for mass transit and a future commuter rail station.
The Northside has always had some of the prettiest land, (high hills and bluffs mixed with salt marshes), in all of Northeast Florida.
OCKLAWAHA
I agree about widening Main Street. How, the other side of that would be the upgrade of the road from rural to urban. An urban road would come with sidewalks, lighting and bike lanes, which can complement rail. With supportive land uses in place, that entire area could become walkable and conductive to alternative mobility options. Anyway, the area sets up well for mass transit, especially commuter rail. Rail would not only facilitate growth around RCM, it would also help spur revitalization along Main St, Dunn/Busch, Imeson Park and Heckscher.
That is very true Lake, in fact I "KNOW" the road is going urban which will be nice, just wanted us to point out once again that extra lanes don't solve ANY situation in the longer term.
I just returned from a pilgrimage to Yukon yesterday, and was just sick over the placement of a huge modern clinic right across from the Yorktown Gate (Main Gate) of NAS JAX. Dumb and Dumber anyone? The section between the tracks and the highway might have room left for a station platform without the whistles and bells, and maybe, maybe a bus lane but even that might be pushing it. Sad because some 20,000 - 30,000 people (and growing) work, live or play at the base. The daily parade at 7:00 am and 4:00 pm is nearly unbearable, NAS has a bus service and wouldn't that be a natural fit? The only parking space left is the NW corner of the crossing. If JTA really has money for land, these smallish parcels should be snapped up before we lose another opportunity.
PLEASE lets not make those same mistakes with poorly located stations (San Marco on Prudential) or by letting that crossing get away from us - the citizens.
OCKLAWAHA
Quote from: Ocklawaha on November 22, 2009, 08:28:26 AM
Making Main Street wider and wider really won't solve anything. If the Marketplace is looking for new shoppers we need the lot/s at Main/Airport Center at the railroad converted into park-and-ride for mass transit and a future commuter rail station.
The Northside has always had some of the prettiest land, (high hills and bluffs mixed with salt marshes), in all of Northeast Florida.
OCKLAWAHA
Nothing will cure success like rail
Except no money for rail right now, so why focus on it? Let's embrace what we have now hundreds of acres prime for development NOW and JOBS NOW.
Depends on how you look at things. You need less money for rail than roads. After all, rail is cheaper but it really depends on your priorities. Locally, we're hooked on choosing things that cost taxpayers more money in the short and long run. In any event, now is the time to plan and go after rail funding. You have a federal administration who has placed a high priority on green infrastructure and transportation options. They won't be in DC forever. Its time to strike while the iron is hot before we miss the boat again.
here here!
Mass Transit haters unite! You wouldn't want any of this in your neighborhood...
http://www.youtube.com/v/A7qVAeR74bQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1
Civil, what a thoughtless comment, perhaps you should lay off your medication for a few days. We all know the numbers refute every bit of that comment...
Mtrain, same old same old from you too my encouraging friend. You know your just waiting for the revival of the Ponce De Leon and Dixie Flyer so you can play in Atlanta. Rail is going to do this. This might shock all of you but the lack of leadership at Amtrak, (IE: Rapid orders and expansion plans with the new found dollars) has attracted the industry and the railroad press. The "talk of the town" is that some railroad is about to step up and offer to operate the services themselves as long as "Amtrak" will make up any loss. We could be sitting on the dawn of a new age of privatization, something I would have bet against for 35+ years.
There is certainly no reason not to grab the real estate needed for stations today and plenty of reasons why we shouldn't wait until tomorrow.
OCKLAWAHA