A site plan for a proposed gas station and convenience store at Regency Square Mall shows a larger redevelopment schematic for the largely vacant 57-year-old shopping center property at 9501 Arlington Expressway.
City utility JEA is reviewing a service availability request for a proposed 5,200-square-foot convenience store and gas station on 1.42 acres.
It is called “CK Atlantic Blvd & Monument Rd,” hinting that it could be a Circle K.
The description calls it “part of a master redevelopment.” Bohler Engineering of Orlando is the civil engineer.
Plans show a gas station in what is now part of the parking lot at Regency Square Mall.
The gas station site plan shows it along a proposed access road off of Atlantic Boulevard.
A visit to the mall Dec. 10 found that just two stores remain open within the interior of the east side of the mall – Rogers Jewelers and Tokyo Sakura, the only food court tenant.
The only access into the mall is from the food court in the north entrance, and the only interior pathway is from the food court to Rogers Jewelers near the main corridor. Visitors have no access into any of the other corridors. The remainder of the eastern mall is roped off.
The mall is open 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Rogers Jewelers is closed Tuesdays.
The redevelopment
Based on the site plan dated Sept. 25 by EnVision Design & Engineering of Jacksonville, it appears that the eastern part of the mall would be redeveloped, although other than the gas station, no specific uses are indicated.
Rogers Jewelers is one of two stores open within the interior of the east side of Regency Square Mall.
While the plans do not specify demolition, the enclosed east mall is listed as “Main Parcel 2.”
The parking lot to the north is “Main Parcel 1.”
Impact Church, the Dillard’s Clearance Center and Sears are separately owned and not within the master development plan as now outlined.
Regency Mall Realty LLC, a partnership of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group LLC, both based in Great Neck, New York, owns the bulk of the mall and said Oct. 2, 2023, it had a contract to sell its portion.
Property records show the group owns about 74 acres and about 980,200 square feet of retail space at Regency Square.
Lake City-based Blackwater Development LLC announced Oct. 16, 2023, that it has a contract to buy that part of the mall.
President Rurmell McGee said May 29 the purchase could be completed by the first quarter of 2025, pending due diligence and other issues. He spoke to Scenic Jacksonville’s Scenic Vision Series on Arlington panel discussion at Jacksonville University.
McGee said Dec.10 he had no comment on the JEA site plan or the progress of redevelopment.
Blackwater Development LLC President Rurmell McGee
He said in May that parts of Regency Square Mall would be demolished and the property redeveloped with multifamily housing, retail, entertainment and other uses pending the largely vacant regional mall’s sale.
There are two portions shown on the site plan filed with JEA.
The 41.84-acre eastern site is at northwest Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.
The 35-acre site is west of that, north of the Arlington Expressway.
A roadway with a roundabout runs north from Regency Square Boulevard south to where the Arlington Expressway connects with Atlantic Boulevard.
Impact Church is the northwest of the roundabout.
Plans show how Regency Square Mall could be divided, with the first redevelopment project a gas station.
What the plans show
• The 41.84-acre site:
It appears the portion of the mall from Impact Church east to the closed JCPenney store will be demolished.
That has been the last part of the mall with retail activity as tenants closed.
Impact Church, separately owned by Impact Church of Jacksonville Inc., is not part of the plan.
The Main Parcel 2, at 10.46 acres, is the existing eastern mall.
Main Parcel 1, at 10.81 acres, is the parking lot to the north of it.
No building uses are specified on those properties, indicating they could become available for developers.
The gas station is shown on a 1.3-acre outparcel that is one of 11 lining Atlantic Boulevard and Monument road. The size differs from the 1.42 acres stated in the JEA request, but the site plan can change.
The outparcels are shown as 1.16 to 2.21 acres.
The existing Firestone auto care store is shown on the 1.23-acre corner Outparcel 7.
• The 35-acre site:
No specific plans are shown on the western portion of the mall from Impact Church to Dillard’s and Sears.
That part of the mall has been closed to retail activity for years.
The Dillard’s Clearance Center has no connecting opening to the mall. Sears has been closed since July 2016.
Looking ahead
Developed at Atlantic Boulevard, Monument Road and the Arlington Expressway, Regency Square commanded the area’s retail attention since it opened in 1967 in Arlington before falling victim to competition, real estate trends and then disrepair.
Before redevelopment can start, the developer would need to make sure that city code enforcement fines were paid.
Trash cans are positioned to catch rainwater at Regency Square Mall on Dec. 10.
The current owners have been racking up extensive city code compliance fees for ceiling leaks, holes and cracks, floor damage and exposed wiring.
As of Dec. 10, the city said owners owe $1.66 million in fines that began accruing in February 2022.
“The fines continue to grow. A prospective buyer requested information on settlement options at the end of November, but an application has not been submitted yet,” said city Chief Communications Officer Phil Perry.
McGee said in May his group has been working on those. “We’ve been in communications with the city. We think we have a good path forward with those,” he said.
“The city has been incredibly supportive in helping us trying to overcome some of those. So we’re confident and comfortable.”
McGee said in May the redevelopment could be a five- to 10-year effort.
“You’ve got the church, you’ve got Namdar, and trying to make sure everybody’s expectations are met is really what we’re working through now,” McGee said in May.
Tokyo Sakura is the final food court tenant at Regency Square Mall.
McGee said if the sale closes by the first quarter, there will be notification and discussions with existing tenants about their leases.
He said buying the property requires due diligence and then permitting, which also means “just working through whatever issues you find.”
When that happens, demolition is expected.
“I think the only way for us to redevelop that property is to demo it. I can’t tell you when the demo will happen, but the demolition is a part of that,” he said.
Developers often sell parts of their properties to companies or other landlords that want to build apartments, retail stores and restaurants.
McGee said that decision would be based on what makes sense for the project and what benefits the community.
The Blackwater group also would buy two buildings that are part of the mall ownership but free-standing – the leased Firestone auto care center and the closed Piccadilly cafeteria.
A brief history
Regency Realty LLC, a partnership of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group LLC, both based in Great Neck, New York, paid $13 million for the bulk of the 1.4 million-square-foot mall Feb. 14, 2014.
The buyers were Regency Mall Realty LLC (45%), Regency CH LLC (45%) and Regency Nassim LLC (10%).
The property is assessed for 2024 tax purposes at almost $6.5 million.
Regency Square Mall now has limited hours.
The buyers did well in the deal.
The 2014 purchase included the AMC Theatres property, which Regency Mall Realty sold a year later to a Kansas City investment group for $26.2 million.
The sale was more than double what Mason and Namdar paid for the entire property, which indicated it made its money back and more.
Regency Mall Realty made another $7 million in 2016 when it sold the former Belk department store to Impact Church of Jacksonville Inc.
Regency Square Mall at Atlantic Boulevard, Monument Road and the Arlington Expressway.
Regency Square Mall called itself the largest shopping center in the Southeast when it opened in 1967.
It opened with 50 stores expanded to more than 100 department stores, boutiques, specialty retailers and food vendors.
The center doubled in size in 1981-82 and added more space in the early 1990s.
The original developer was the Regency Square partnership, led by the Martin E. Stein family of Jacksonville.
In 1991, Regency Square sold the property to an entity that became controlled by General Growth Properties of Chicago.
The Stein family took shopping mall developer Regency Centers Corp. public in 1993 and that company had no ownership in Regency Square.
General Growth went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009 and 2010.
By February 2013, General Growth said the mall had been “transferred to the special servicer,” which was trying to renegotiate the loan on the property.
Regency Mall Realty then bought the property from General Growth Properties in 2014.
About the time of sale, General Growth reported that occupancy at Regency Square had fallen from 60.1% at the end of 2012 to 37.9%.
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