Roosevelt Square’s owner appears to be contemplating another upgrade at the 55-year-old property that was redeveloped more than a decade ago.
Two proposed site plans — one from the fall and another dated April — show Dewberry Capital Corp. is pursuing a vision for the Westside center.
The vision coincides with the news Thursday that Belk Inc. is closing its 63,000-square-foot store at the Roosevelt Mall shopping center in January.
Atlanta-based Dewberry has not commented about the plans, which are designed for potential retail tenants.
The April plan indicates the Belk store will be removed and other shops built there, including a 35,000-square-foot Stein Mart.
The Jacksonville-based company now occupies a larger store within Roosevelt Square. Stein Mart’s average store size is 32,000 to 35,000 square feet.
Stein Mart investor relations Director Linda Tasseff referred questions to Dewberry. “It’s certainly our intention to stay in the center,” she said.
Both plans show the existing retail square footage of about 228,000 square feet would be increased, possibly by more than 100,000 square feet.
That total square footage wouldn’t be too different from the size of the original Roosevelt Mall that Dewberry Capital recast from an enclosed center to an open-air plaza.
However, because the recent master plans differ, it appears Dewberry has not decided the precise increase.
The major design change comes where the Belk store sits at 4535 Roosevelt Blvd.
The older plan shows a potential theater while the new one shows the Stein Mart. Both included adjacent shops.
Both plans also show the additional square footage beyond the Belk site changes would likely be small shop additions.
And both show the 51,420-square-foot Publix Super Markets Inc. store would stay put.
Dewberry says on its dewberrycapital.com website the grocery chain’s Roosevelt Square store is one of the highest-grossing Publix stores.
District City Council member Jim Love knows the draw. “The Publix is one of the busiest in town,” he said Monday.
Love wasn’t aware of redevelopment plans for Roosevelt Square, but said he was looking forward to seeing them. He also is sorry to see Belk leave.
Love said the neighborhoods served by Roosevelt Square comprise “one of the better shopping areas.”
Roosevelt Square is near the historic neighborhoods of Riverside, Avondale and Ortega. It also isn’t far from Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
Dewberry Capital invested at least $25 million into the former Roosevelt Mall after it bought the enclosed center in 1997 and “de-malled” it.
The first phase was completed in 1999 and the second in 2003.
Dewberry Capital said on its website the original 309,360-square-foot, one-story retail shopping center “was under highly distressed circumstances.”
It turned the mall into an open-air, multi-building shopping center, which retained and upgraded spaces for tenants Publix, Stein Mart and what was then Gayfers department store. Belk took over that space.
Shopping patterns continue to change with the development of much larger centers, such as St. Johns Town Center, although neighborhoods continue to need convenient shopping within their communities.
“Dewberry Capital’s revitalization efforts also had a dramatic impact on the surrounding community,” its website says of its redevelopment of Roosevelt Mall into Roosevelt Square.
“I’m sure that something can be done to make it better,” Love said.
Jackson-Shaw plans warehouse space at International Tradeport
At least two large warehouses are proposed at Jacksonville International Tradeport by landowner Jackson-Shaw.
Jackson-Shaw filed site plans with the city for a 114,700-square-foot warehouse on almost 13.5 acres at northeast International Parkway and Tradeport Circle East. It filed another plan for a 54,000-square-foot warehouse on a nearly 3.6-acre site at southeast International Parkway and Tradeport Circle.
Jackson-Shaw filed the plans through JSTP Lot 4 LLC and JSTP Lot 3 LLC. The limited liability companies were registered with the state in August, the month Jackson-Shaw bought the properties.
Jackson-Shaw also bought a 7.7-acre site along International Airport Road and registered JSTP Lot 5 LLC in August, but plans were not filed for that.
Jackson-Shaw has completed more than 42 million square feet of development, including office, industrial, mixed-use and hospitality.
The Dallas-based company also has offices in Jacksonville and Lanham, Md.
ACR sees growth in Highland Square market
American Commercial Realty Corp. announced Monday that new tenants already are opening at Highland Square shopping center, which it bought Wednesday for almost $22.7 million.
The center, at 1010 Dunn Ave. in North Jacksonville, totals about 277,000 square feet. The company, based in Palm Beach Gardens, said Brooks Rehabilitation has opened a new facility and Chase Bank will open a prototype bank branch there this week.
Publix Super Markets Inc., CVS, Family Dollar and Starbucks are among the existing retailers.
George Kleier, director of leasing and development, said in a news release the addition of Chase and also BBVA Compass “shows that major companies with an acute knowledge of the market appreciate the area surrounding Highland Square and understand its long-term growth.”
The shopping center is near Interstate 95 and a dense populated urban market close to industrial companies.
Ironstone Partners advised American Commercial Realty on the purchase.
President Rick Baer in the release said there are vacancies at the center, but they primarily are the result of “macro situations,” such as the mergers in the office-supply business, which resulted in Office Depot giving up its location.
He said the leasing team has begun identifying prospective users and “finding considerable interest.”
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466