The Plaza at Town Center Entertainment Complex

[blizz01]

yeah, the town center at the airport rail station & SPAR!

[thelakelander]

Whisky River to open tomorrow.  However, it doesn't look like the grand "entertainment complex" will be built anytime soon.

The club is in Markets at Town Center, which is next to the main St. Johns Town Center. Two more venues are expected to open there this year:

- Suite, an upscale martini bar.

- BlackFinn American Saloon, is a bar and restaurant patterned after a classic New York saloon.

Whisky River, Suite and BlackFinn are all affiliated and have locations in Charlotte's EpiCentre.
Last December, a publicist announced a much larger entertainment center in the Markets at Town Center, featuring up to a dozen restaurants and clubs. Developers have since said that only the three are planned.

full article: http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-04-15/story/whisky-river-set-town-center-opening-friday

[tufsu1]

I know a bunch of people going there tonight and/or tomorrow....apparently they gave out about 3000 tckets for the Grand Opening!

[Doctor_K]

A neat little electric-powered trolley or PCT down the spine of the SJTC from the blue-collar side to the white-collar side and then over to the Whiskey River section at the Plaza, then flips back down the spine of the TC would be all sorts of brilliant.

Still would love to see even a bus line to the Town Center that wasn't just to the UNF campus and back.  

How awesome would it be to have a bus line down JTB from east to west, originating at the eastern end of JTB, stopping at park-n-ride lots adjacent to the JTB on-ramps on the arterials of San Pablo and Kernan, and then hitting the two different stops within the Town Center; then flip back around for the trip back east to the terminus at the end of JTB by the beach.  How's that for your 'BRT'?  Hell, not even "Rapid," just "Regularly-scheduled."  At the east terminus of JTB it could intersect with a 'trolly' that runs the length of 3rd Ave all the way up to Beach Blvd or even Atlantic.  Isn't there already a 'trolley' in place thereabouts?  The Beach Trolley or whatever?

Another bus line that continues west on JTB to Southpoint and the park-n-ride lot for a future multimodal hub at Philips for the commuter rail line downtown could use the same route and hit the same stops, maybe minus one of the two SJTC stops.

Right there you've at least partially alleviated JTB traffic; and, even though its buses, you've got a set of relavent transit lines pretty quickly.

[St. Auggie]

Went to a "town center" in California that had a train to take folks from one end to the other.  It looked awesome, gave the place a REAL upscale feel, and it was EXTERMELY functional.  It would have been nice if they had thought of that before starting.  I dont know how many times I have not gone to certain stores at the SJTC because I dont want to have to walk from one end of the place to the other... even if I could use it!

[Doctor_K]

Fair point, St. Auggie.  To each their own.  I don't mind so much the walking around.  It's good for me. 

Now granted, in the dead of summer that walk from end-to-end is a biatch - I won't deny that for a moment.  At that point I'm very much on-board (pardon the pun) for a little air-conditioned train-type thing, or the aforementioned electric PCT even, running the length of the complex.  I agree that it'd have been nice to have that originally planned and implemented.

[Captain Zissou]

A neat little electric-powered trolley or PCT down the spine of the SJTC from the blue-collar side to the white-collar side and then over to the Whiskey River section at the Plaza, then flips back down the spine of the TC would be all sorts of brilliant.

Bingo.

I was supposed to go to Whiskey River last night, but then I realized it would be awful so I didn't go.

[finehoe]

Why would you choose Whiskey River over the Tax Day Pub Crawl anyway?

[Stephanie Kellum]

Well we didn't have a mechanical bull at the Tax Day Pub Crawl. Even with their opening last night we still had an amazing turn out. I don't think we're the Whiskey River crowd anyway. Besides, drinking and bull riding isn't safe. 

[blizz01]

You may have to eat your words if the crawl finds its way to Mavericks!

[Stephanie Kellum]

Crap! Very true. I'm fairly certain I will be trying to convince people to get on that thing. Hope cameras are near!

[blizz01]

Two new restaurants to open at Markets at Town Center

Two more new restaurant brands will open their first Northeast Florida locations at the Markets at Town Center, bringing more than 100 jobs to the area.
Suite, a tapas lounge and night club, will open late in the fourth quarter and Libretto’s Italian Kitchen and Pizzeria is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2011.
Both restaurants will be located on Big Island Drive, according to a representative of Suite. The two restaurants are not related.
Suite, developed by an investment group led by Charlotte, N.C.-businessman, will be the first of its kind. There are two other Suites, one in Charlotte and the other in Milwaukee, that do not offer tapas.
Libretto’s, founded in New York, operates one pizzeria in Manhattan and two in Charlotte.
The owners of Suite expect to hire 100 to 125 employees. It’s not yet known how many employees will be hired at Libretto’s.
The two restaurants will open on the coattails of two other new restaurants to the Markets at Town Center. BlackFinn American Saloon opened this summer and Whiskey River, a concept developed by race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., opened this spring.- Jacksonville Business Journal

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2010/10/04/daily43.html
http://www.suitecharlotte.com/
http://www.librettospizzeria.com/

[thelakelander]

I wonder if there are any plans to make this area into a true pedestrian friendly entertainment complex?  Right now, they are just filling an empty automobile oriented strip center's retail spaces with restaurants.  

[blizz01]

Looks like another venue is on its way (with a Piano Bar) - not a big fan of Darden, though, since they cut out the fire/juggling bartenders at Bahama Breeze......

Seasons 52 to open at the Town Center

http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/food-and-dining/2011-02-22/story/seasons-52-open-town-center

[copperfiend]

One word to describe Seasons 52: Outstanding

Ate at the Sand Lake location a few times and have never had anything but a terrific meal. Very classy inside and the food is very fresh and generally healthy.