Staff Writer
Entertainment options. Office space. Even space for area universities or the medical community.
Those are possibilities for vacant areas within Regency Square Mall, said Helen Ciesla, the mall’s general manager.
“We’re not ruling anything out,” she said after her Wednesday presentation to the Southside Business Men’s Club.
A slow retail economy coupled with growing competition in the last 20 years led to a higher mall vacancy, she said. The mall does not report its vacancy rate to the public.
But she said the center, with its anchors and 130 small shops, employs about 2,000 people.
While vacancies, especially in the west end of the mall, have opened up possibilities for outside-the-box opportunities, Ciesla said the main goal remains the same.
“Our goal is to retain tenants first and foremost,” she said.
Ciesla also briefed the group on Regency Square’s 42-year history and the remodels and additions that made the mall a destination.
She said The Avenues and St. Johns Town Center entered the market and provided both healthy competition and saturation, but she also credits the Town Center for helping put Northeast Florida on the shopping map.
“The reality is they offer retail that wasn’t offered here,” said Ciesla.
Regency Square doesn’t aim to go head-to-head with either venue, she said, but instead will focus on value-oriented sales. She said Regency also carries a perception of crime and lack of safety that comes with appealing to shoppers with lower incomes. Security cameras and strict loitering policies haven’t changed the perception, she said, even with crime statistics being low and “very positive.”
“Unfortunately, perception is reality,” she said. “It’s a very difficult perception to change.”
The mall averages around 10 million to 12 million customers a year, though last year it dropped by half a million, something Ciesla called significant.
Medical offices, a community center and entertainment venues are all up for discussion for vacant space at the mall, as is the idea of hosting a business expo. “We’d be a viable venue for that event,” she said.
The mall will continue its attempt to fill the vacancies and Ciesla is confident Regency Square will be an asset to Jacksonville for the long haul.
“I can tell you we’re here to stay,” she said.
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