Regency Mall as a retail incubator?

[thelakelander]

So Regency's new owner plans to turn the west end of the mall into a retail incubator.  Do you think this will work?

West Mall incubator

Owners wanted to focus on filling up the East Mall and decide later on the largely vacant West Mall, but Kramer said that changed about two weeks ago.

The new game plan is to start leasing space from Belk west to Sears – including creating a kind of retail incubator.

Kramer said the mall could lease spaces from $1,500 to $2,500 a month, plus utilities, for up to a year as an enticement to join the West Mall. He said space sizes range from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet.

"Try it for a year," he said. "Test-market your product or concept."

He said one of the new tenants could be open by October.

The West Mall has just four retailers – Sears, the Dillard's Clearance Center, Regis Hair Salon and GNC. The children's play area is there too.

Sears and Dillard's own their buildings.

In addition, Kramer said a restaurant-bar is interested in the West Mall.

Kramer welcomes traditional and nontraditional retailers, such as the church, to the mall.

"That's the fun," he said.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=543680

[jaxjaguar]

As much as I'd like to see it succeed, I think the "mall" part of regency is dead. I think it's time to re purpose it into something else. Maybe a satellite campus like FSCJ did with the old mall off 295 near the avenues. Or tear it down and make use of the large plot of land...

[Rob68]

Maybe if it was demalled? Knoc down the middle part for open shopping and eating with two large anchor parts? A complete new identity which would include some community  stuff ..maybe an open air theatre...festivals..seems like such a waist if it dies.

[coredumped]

I'm reading something different than all of you, the article made it sound like the mall is doing well and traffic is up.

As for the west side of the mall, I'd prefer they hold of and maybe do a gran opening on the west side once the east side is built up.

Things are turning around, perception has to change, but it looks like it's on the up-swing.

[KenFSU]

I wish them well, but man, 1.4 million square feet of retail space -- on top of the adjacent vacant wasteland left behind by Sports Authority, Office Depot, Barnes N' Noble, etc. -- is just too damn much for the area in 2014. It's not 1990 anymore. The Northsiders are now served by RCMP, the Southsiders have their choice of the Town Center and the Avenues, and the Westsiders have seen the Orange Park Mall buck the dead mall trend by continuously expanding and upgrading. There's simply no demand for a bloated Arlington mega-mall anymore.

Using the west mall as a low-rent retail incubator sounds pretty terrifying to me. The types of tenets that are most likely to be drawn in -- dollar stores, cash for gold, airbrushed t-shirt shops, seasonal accountants, pyramid schemers, third-rate cell phone hawkers -- probably won't be converting many of the Town Center folk into Regency shoppers.

The Regency as it exists has had its day in the sun.

Consolidating everything into a better east mall and repurposing or demolishing the west mall seems like such a no-brainer.

Random pie-in-the-sky ideas, which may or may not be feasible:

1) Relocate the Duval County School Board to the East Mall, providing a more centralized location for DCPS workers and freeing up valuable riverfront property for other uses (my Dad's company actually worked on a similar relocation project in Fort Myers/Naples, utilizing a dead mall (Metro Mall) for schoolboard offices and an educational center).

2) Demo the West Mall and use it as an additional major transit center/hub for JTA. It's a good, central location for transfers and would do wonders for foot traffic at the west mall. Seems like a win, win.

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, I think the worse is yet to come. I want to see what the response will be when Belk moves to Sleiman's strip mall down the street.

[coredumped]

Unfortunately, I think the worse is yet to come. I want to see what the response will be when Belk moves to Sleiman's strip mall down the street.

From the article:

A big question concerns Belk, which bridges the East and West Malls. A new Belk is expected to open in March a few miles east at Atlantic and Kernan boulevards.

Charlotte-based Belk has not said how the Regency store will be affected and a spokeswoman said last week she had no additional information.

I haven't heard either way if the Belk will stay or close.

I do like the idea that was proposed a few years ago (I think by regency) to tear down the west mall, leave sears and go from there.

[thelakelander]

I have a pretty good hunch.  I can't imagine them having two stores so close together when the older one has too much square footage and is located in an older struggling mall.  I've seen this situation before and the new store typically ends up being a replacement.  We'll see how it goes in a few months to confirm if I'm right or wrong.  I hope I'm wrong but I doubt it.

[Charles Hunter]

How is Regency "a more centralized location for DCPS workers" than downtown?

Leaving a free-standing Sears across acres of parking wouldn't be good for Sears or the Mall - at least now you can walk there inside.  Maybe after Belk leaves (they aren't going to have two Belks within 5 miles apart) a deal could be worked to put Sears in the Belk space?  Then tear down everything west, and build some residential.

[KenFSU]

How is Regency "a more centralized location for DCPS workers" than downtown?

If you look at the DCPS map, it's certainly as centralized in regards to county schools, with arguably easier access from anywhere in the city via I-295. Like I said, just a pie-in-the-sky thought, but I can think of worse ideas than moving DCPS, getting that prime riverfront property back on the tax roll, and removing a critical, constant obstacle from finally getting the adjacent JEA property onto the market.

[thelakelander]

Whenever DCPS gets off the riverfront, I hope they take up space in one of the several mostly vacant office buildings in the Northbank.

[KenFSU]

Whenever DCPS gets off the riverfront, I hope they take up space in one of the several mostly vacant office buildings in the Northbank.

That's the eventual plan for now, right?