Rethinking Regency Mall

[vicupstate]

I find it hard to believe that Simon or any company, would simply destroy or allow a slow death to a property that it spent so much to buy, just to eliminate competition.  That just too much money to devote to something like that.     

[stjr]

I find it hard to believe that Simon or any company, would simply destroy or allow a slow death to a property that it spent so much to buy, just to eliminate competition.  That just too much money to devote to something like that.     

Vicup, first, Simon is buying a portfolio of 200 malls.  Regency is just one of many.  They aren't spending $10 billion just to take over all of Jax area malls and specifically eliminate competition in lil' ol' Jax.  They have a global strategy.  However, within that strategy, I am sure they will customize a unique strategy for each property.  Some of the 200 malls may be redeveloped and Regency is not immune.

I am suggesting that because they have little to no mall competition in this particular market, that mall shoppers and stores could be consolidated into their existing properties here without Simon missing a beat - just as many companies buy competitors and do the same thing.  Simon gets added value because they collect more rent from fewer properties saving lots of overhead.

Then, they turn around and redevelop Regency, perhaps in a new retail - mixed use concept as suggested in this thread.  The rents from repositioning Regency plus the efficiencies of consolidating existing mall revenues is a home run any corporate chieftain would salivate over.  Eliminating competition is good for Simon but here the real story is it may act as a catalyst for them to do some things no other Regency owner could accomplish.

[duvaldude08]

I just read that the owners of Regency declined the offer by Simon, and say they may reconsider once they are out of bankruptcy.

[copperfiend]

I noticed the Bennigan's building on Atlantic and Southside has been torn down. There is a 'Coming Soon' sign for a Fifth Third Bank.

[Doctor_K]

I miss that Bennigans.  Always great for a Monte Cristo sandwich or a Kilkenny's Country Chicken Salad.

That said, I'm glad something's coming to take its place as infill.  Baby steps.

[copperfiend]

It's a positive step. There are so many empty spaces in that immediate area. The car dealership, Lazy Boy, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, Applebees, Babies R Us.

On a side note, I saw a Bennigan's that was still open outside of Charlotte.

[Traveller]

The Wendy's in front of the Target on Roosevelt near NAS was torn down close to a year ago.  A similar sign advertising a Fifth Third Bank "coming soon" has stood in its place ever since.  No dirt has yet turned.

[copperfiend]

I am thinking there has also been a sign in front of the Publix on Beach/Kernan for a Fifth/Third for over a year.

[mtraininjax]

Malls are dead, they just don't know it. All old malls will either become commercial office space, such as Emerson did in the 90s, or they will become churchs. Shoppers want new, Regency is NOT new nor is Orange Park Mall.

Throw up new walls in Cecil Field and people would probably flock to it, because there is nothing until 295 along Normandy from Baldwin/Maxville.

[thelakelander]

Regency Square considering additional uses

by David Chapman
Staff Writer

Entertainment options. Office space. Even space for area universities or the medical community.

Those are possibilities for vacant areas within Regency Square Mall, said Helen Ciesla, the mall’s general manager.

“We’re not ruling anything out,” she said after her Wednesday presentation to the Southside Business Men’s Club.

A slow retail economy coupled with growing competition in the last 20 years led to a higher mall vacancy, she said. The mall does not report its vacancy rate to the public.

But she said the center, with its anchors and 130 small shops, employs about 2,000 people.

While vacancies, especially in the west end of the mall, have opened up possibilities for outside-the-box opportunities, Ciesla said the main goal remains the same.

“Our goal is to retain tenants first and foremost,” she said.

Ciesla also briefed the group on Regency Square’s 42-year history and the remodels and additions that made the mall a destination.

She said The Avenues and St. Johns Town Center entered the market and provided both healthy competition and saturation, but she also credits the Town Center for helping put Northeast Florida on the shopping map.

“The reality is they offer retail that wasn’t offered here,” said Ciesla.

Regency Square doesn’t aim to go head-to-head with either venue, she said, but instead will focus on value-oriented sales. She said Regency also carries a perception of crime and lack of safety that comes with appealing to shoppers with lower incomes. Security cameras and strict loitering policies haven’t changed the perception, she said, even with crime statistics being low and “very positive.”

“Unfortunately, perception is reality,” she said. “It’s a very difficult perception to change.”

The mall averages around 10 million to 12 million customers a year, though last year it dropped by half a million, something Ciesla called significant.

Medical offices, a community center and entertainment venues are all up for discussion for vacant space at the mall, as is the idea of hosting a business expo. “We’d be a viable venue for that event,” she said.

The mall will continue its attempt to fill the vacancies and Ciesla is confident Regency Square will be an asset to Jacksonville for the long haul.

“I can tell you we’re here to stay,” she said.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=530663

[Arlingtondude]

there is also a Fifth/Third "Coming Soon" sign at the corner of Townsend and Merrill. They demolished the BP station and Hollywood Video about a year ago and nothing has happened. I just hope once they do start construcion that they save all the mature live oak trees remainig from the previous developments.

[fieldafm]

Fifth Third has about 6 lease options around town(at really good intersections too) that they have yet to exercise.  They could become a big player in Jax once they're ready to continue their expansion into this market. 

[spuwho]

Regency is a victim to the poor planning and zoning in the city.

SJTC, while a good design and layout for today, was allowed to be too close to the Avenues and Regency. While Regency was already on the downward spiral, when they opened the new shopping area at I-95/Duval Road by the airport, that cutoff the remaining ad-hoc shopping market for them. The Arlington area is inadequate to maintain a mall of such size. It was designed to be a regional mall, but the "region" it serves has shrunk to near nothing.

The only thing keeping it alive now is the anchors, namely JC Penney and Belk. The Sears is a shell of itself, and Dillards is merely finishing out its lease with an outlet center. The only interior store with significant foot traffic was Old Navy and they have left now. (at SJTC now) The only ones who can afford the leases now are athletic shoe stores and jewelry stores.

Even the Avenues felt the impact of SJTC as 4 stores closed up once they opened duplicate stores at STJC.

Baffles me how the city fathers in the planning department thought having 3 large malls within 15 minutes of each other was somehow going to benefit the region. It's as if they already *knew* Regency was a goner when they approved SJTC.

Avenues will always have a market until the Nocatee Town Center fully opens, then they will get the squeeze as the St Johns County crowd either goes south, or up the new 9B to SJTC.

If you don't see the pattern yet (squeeze out old regional style malls for town center style malls), then that puts Avenues on the clock. Parisian has not been replaced yet as an anchor and I am guessing it never will.

Since the Baymeadows Mall has already been turned into a junior college, and there is already a campus on Beach, no political savior for Regency other than a full scraping.

I still can't figure, with Jacksonville's density, how they can justify 3 Super Targets, 2 Wal-Mart's, 2 Publix, 2 Winn-Dixie, all within 10 driving minutes of my locale. 5 more minutes gets me to Regency. Another 5 gets me to the Avenues.

It's complete planning madness. The city is trying to gorge on sales tax revenue, but in the end it is self defeating as one steals from another until one dies.

[Timkin]

I think St John's Town Center did Regency Square in....or at least helped.. by expressway its a couple of minutes away.. it is much newer...it has so much more to offer than RS.   I think if they do with Regency what they did in Orlando with Winter Park Mall... Demolish all but one building and build a similar development to SJTC  .. That is what happened to Winter Park Mall.. it was totally dead... and after the redevelopment , it is thriving.   Most likely the same will eventually have to come to pass with Orange Park Mall.

[gridsketch]

We should refashion the mall and its massive parking lot into a New Urbanist community. Just tear the roof off of the middle and make it into a main street. Put facades on the storefronts and parking garages above the stores (like SoDO). The parking lot can become a neighborhood of townhouses. Everyone will want to live there.