The closed Bealls store in Southside Commons is in review for use as an indoor shooting range.
A year after R.M. Bealls posted a “closing sale” sign on its door at Southside Commons in the Regency area, the landlord is seeking a zoning exception to see whether it could open an indoor shooting range in the stand-alone building.
There is no lease and no plan to open one, however.
“This is merely an exploratory concept. We are exploring the concept of a use there,” said Michael McNaughton, chief operating officer of landlord Sleiman Enterprises, on March 1.
He said Sleiman Enterprises wants to understand “what if any issues exist that could preclude this kind of use.”
McNaughton said the use is an idea “we’ve had for this facility.”
“There is no deal or anything to announce there in any way. We are checking the boundaries of use and approvability.”
Southside Retail LLC, part of Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises LLC, is requesting the exception for the former Bealls at 651 Commerce Center Drive.
Southside Commons comprises 26 acres east of the Southside Connector, north of Regency Square Mall.
Bealls turned the store from its traditional concept into R.M. Bealls, a brand of the chain that focused on “a consistent lower price,” but closed it less than a half-year later.
Bradenton-based Bealls sells casual lifestyle apparel and home merchandise.
Bealls said on its website in October 2019 that two stores became R.M. Bealls – the Jacksonville store at Southside Commons and a store in Deerfield Beach.
A Southside Commons site plan shows Bealls leased 80,000 square feet of space in the free-standing building, whose address within the center is 860 Commerce Center Drive.
Southside Commons anchor tenants include The Church of Eleven22, Planet Fitness, Ross and Michaels.