Regency Square Mall Thread

[mtraininjax]

But, am I the only one who thinks a redeveloped retail mall will not work? Maybe if it included a mix of apartments and offices as well.

Apartments and offices come once you have a thriving space. Look at Town Center. The apartments and offices are popping up around TC due to the traffic there. RC has to grow and do something to get people back to the property, before other developers add more to the area.

[thelakelander]

A Jax Biz Journal article about the challenges Regency faces going forward:

The New York-based buyers of the Regency Square Mall are known for their ability to reposition struggling retail properties.

Repositioning Regency might task that ability to the fullest.

A joint venture of Nadmar Realty and Mason Asset Management, both based in Great Neck, N.Y., paid $13 million for 1 million square feet of enclosed mall space. The deal didn't include the anchor boxes for Sear's and Dillard's, which are owned by those retailers.

The deal, at about $13 per square foot, "on the surface seems like a very attractive price," said Chris Morgan, principal at Cantrell & Morgan Inc. in Jacksonville.

But there are other factors at play, including newer retail centers and the demographics of the surrounding area, that make a redevelopment or repositioning difficult at any price point.

Full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/02/20/challenges-ahead-for-regency-square.html

[JayBird]

But, am I the only one who thinks a redeveloped retail mall will not work? Maybe if it included a mix of apartments and offices as well.

Apartments and offices come once you have a thriving space. Look at Town Center. The apartments and offices are popping up around TC due to the traffic there. RC has to grow and do something to get people back to the property, before other developers add more to the area.

Well SJTC filled a need for the burgeoning southside ... So I guess the real question is if there is really a need for a large mall at regency? With River City, Avenues, and SJTC not to mention a variety of retail stores along Atlantic, Beach and the Kendall-Treadnick establishments ... It appears any more retail will just hurt the existing places. With such a large space, close to beaches and downtown, it's a shame it can't be developed into a college campus, the highly sought after (by someone because it always comes up) amusement park, or a dense urban style residential village ... Something other than the Regency Mall. After all, most people cringe just hearing Regency as if the entire neighborhood has suffered just because of this mall.

[thelakelander]

SJTC filled a need for the region. The Southside can't support SJTC by itself. Many of the retailers they signed are new to NE Florida and SE Georgia. Unfortunately, for Regency, just about every segment of the market is well covered....even Arlington. Even if they go discount or cheap, they'll just be pulling places like Bells Outlet, TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross from nearby strip malls, leaving them with higher vacancies.

I think the most important thing for Regency at this point is to try and keep as many of the existing anchors there as possible and rebuild/infill around them (although Belk appears to be leaving). Even then, what's going on with Sears and JCPenney is beyond their control. Both chains already have one foot on the banana peel and are a slip away from disappearing altogether.

There's also some local precedence with the transitioning of a traditional mall into a discount theme. This was done with Philips Mall and it didn't work out so well. Gateway was forced to transition from a regional mall to more of a neighborhood focus when all it's anchors abruptly abandoned it in the early 1990s.  That hasn't worked out so well either.

[jaxjaguar]

it's a shame it can't be developed into a college campus, the highly sought after (by someone because it always comes up) amusement park

*googles "metrojacksonville regency amusement park" six times a day, everyday, from parents basement*

YES THAT! Make it "Florida's Rollercoaster Capitol!"

[vicupstate]

At the low price they bought it for, hopefully they can demolish and start over.

[thelakelander]

^That doesn't appear to be their business model. It looks like they'll try to renovate and go after working class retailers like they've attempted to do with Bradenton's Desoto Square Mall. One of my close college classmates works for the City of Bradenton.  Since Desoto Square doesn't appear to have a website now, I may check with him to get his opinion on what the buyer has done with that mall.

[coredumped]

At the low price they bought it for, hopefully they can demolish and start over.

Regency is in far too good of shape to demolish. It could use some updating (maybe more skylights and new floors) but the structure is in really good shape.

[I-10east]

^^^I agree. I would hate to see it demoed. 

[thelakelander]

Yeah. Gateway is the one that needs to be demolished and rebuilt as something else. Anyway, here's a look into the new owner's plans for the mall:

Regency Square buyer to add tenants to Arlington mall

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor
Regency Square Mall's new owner intends to reposition the Arlington shopping center's tenants to the east side of the mall and is considering redevelopment options for the largely vacant west side of the mall.

The ownership group, which bought the mall for $13 million last week, also is bringing in some new tenants in the next few weeks.

"We feel that the east mall will remain a vibrant retail shopping area and we are exploring all options for the west mall," said Elliot Nassim, president of Mason Asset Management Inc., a partner in the ownership group.

"We are very excited to have bought this property and to be involved with the project. We already have several tenants that have expressed interest and we are negotiating with them," he said late Thursday.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542298

They are going to give the mall a facelift, add more security, a new children's play area and move tenants on the west side of the mall to the east side.

[vicupstate]

At the low price they bought it for, hopefully they can demolish and start over.

Regency is in far too good of shape to demolish. It could use some updating (maybe more skylights and new floors) but the structure is in really good shape.

The Greenville (SC) Mall was an enclosed mall that was  essentially rebuilt from the ground up and re positioned to be a  more upscale mall in the late '90's.  It never took off primarily because it was too close to a larger mall. Less than a decade after the complete re-build, it was 75% razed. A few years later (post-crash), it was 100% razed.  It is now a smaller version of SJTC.  The new owner paid a lot more than $13 SF too.

My guess is this new owner will raze the west side now and within 5 years do the same to the East side, at least the 'mall corridor' parts.  The East side 'anchors might remain with access simply reconfigured to 'post-enclosed' status.       

[duvaldude08]

At the low price they bought it for, hopefully they can demolish and start over.

Regency is in far too good of shape to demolish. It could use some updating (maybe more skylights and new floors) but the structure is in really good shape.

The Greenville (SC) Mall was an enclosed mall that was  essentially rebuilt from the ground up and re positioned to be a  more upscale mall in the late '90's.  It never took off primarily because it was too close to a larger mall. Less than a decade after the complete re-build, it was 75% razed. A few years later (post-crash), it was 100% razed.  It is now a smaller version of SJTC.  The new owner paid a lot more than $13 SF too.

My guess is this new owner will raze the west side now and within 5 years do the same to the East side, at least the 'mall corridor' parts.  The East side 'anchors might remain with access simply reconfigured to 'post-enclosed' status.       

I would have to disagree. The westside of the mall has been an issues for atleast a decade or more really. The center and east side of the mall has always been active.

[Charles Hunter]

But what will the Belk's defection do to the middle?  That would certainly make it even more palatable to level everything between the then-empty Belk's and Sears.  With Sears owning their building, relocating them to the Belk's site probably wouldn't happen.

[thelakelander]

That's a big question mark. Out of all of the anchors, Belk seems the most financially solid and the location is the heart of the mall. If they can't line that space up with a decent anchor or draw, it will have a huge negative impact on the east mall.

[coredumped]

But what will the Belk's defection do to the middle?  That would certainly make it even more palatable to level everything between the then-empty Belk's and Sears.  With Sears owning their building, relocating them to the Belk's site probably wouldn't happen.

Unless you know something I (we?) don't know, there's been no announcement of Belk to leave Regency. They haven't said anything, and I wish they would, but as of now they haven't said anything about leaving. Sears has said they're committed to Regency, Belk might be waiting to see what the new owners plans are.