From the Daily Record
St. Johns Town Center and the Riverside/Brooklyn area of Downtown are key areas for 2015 retail development, according to CBRE Inc.’s fourth quarter MarketView report.
Overall, the retail market posted a vacancy rate of 9.6 percent, which CBRE said was the fifth consecutive quarterly improvement.
With respect to the Town Center, a Jacksonville Beach developer has reported plans for a 115-acre mixed-use development of retail, restaurants, offices, hotel and apartments nearby.
Town Center popularity also has attracted a Birmingham, Ala., developer to pursue a neighboring 45-acre mix of stores, offices, multifamily residences and a hotel.
In Brooklyn, the development of a Fresh Market and stores and restaurants will soon be flanked by about 600 apartment units as well as plans for a hotel and more expected projects in the area.
More than $88 million in two property sales closed in Cecil Commerce Center the last week of March.
SunCap Jacksonville LLC sold the FedEx Ground Package System Inc. property to Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. of Freehold, N.J., for $30.65 million.
Also, Hillwood Investment Properties sold the GE Oil & Gas plant property for $57.6 million to Realty Income Corp. of San Diego.
Both properties held single, Class A tenants, which is the type of tenant the buyers focus upon.
FedEx is expected to start operations this year.
GE Oil & Gas occupies its building and is ramping up for production of control valves and regulators.
Land was sold for the $21 million development of the General Services Administration center in North Jacksonville.
The center will be developed for the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which will use it for offices and related services in support of security at the Port of Jacksonville and its surrounding waters.
The location is along the Interstate 295 East Beltway, north of Zoo Parkway/Heckscher Drive. Site work has begun and work is expected to be completed in early 2016.
The 5.57 acres at 10426 Alta Drive sold for $1.68 million. According to the GSA, the contract to build the 46,000 square foot building is $20,925,000.
Colliers International real estate company reported a record $2.9 billion commercial real estate transactions took place in Metro Jacksonville in 2014.
That’s a “staggering” 67 percent increase from the record $1.7 billion in 2013 and more than double the total of 2012, the company said.
The biggest sale of the year included Ben Carter’s half of the St. Johns Town Center, which he sold for $375 million. The retail market led the list of categories, with sales of $900 million.
Bartram Village, a retail center expected to open in the fall, is under review by the city.
Site plans show the three-building retail center, at Old St. Augustine Road and Bartram Park Boulevard, will include up to 10 tenants: six restaurants, three retail stores and a bank.
Plans show it will feature Zoës Kitchen, Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint and Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, along with Chase Bank, Roxy Nails, Mattress One and Great Clips.
Aldi is preparing to open in Middleburg in Clay County and has scheduled a job fair March 10.
That makes three stores Aldi has opened in North Florida. It opened the first in October in St. Augustine.
The international discount supermarket chain plans a spring opening for the new site, which is at 1702 Blanding Blvd.
Developer Mitch Montgomery paid $2 million in March for Southside property where he hopes to build a Jacksonville senior-care and living community.
The 17-acre property, off Gate Parkway West and Butler Boulevard, is near St. Vincent’s Medical Center South. It will be called Banyonwood Senior Living.
Plans showed the facility would comprise a four-story, 129-unit independent-living center; a four-story, 81-unit assisted-living facility; and a 25-unit, one-story memory-care center.
Super Food & Brew, a coffee shop, lunch spot, afternoon happy hour and late-night stop which hopes to occupy a corner store at Main and Forsyth streets, stepped closer to that goal in March.
The Downtown Investment Authority has approved a forgivable loan of $49,837 for the building’s owner to convert the first floor into a restaurant.
The space operated years ago as a Starbucks Coffee shop.
Super Food & Brew belongs to Dale Stoudt and Richard Haugk, who operate Super Food Truck.
The restaurant would offer artisan coffee, pastries, locally grown produce, hormone-free meat and fresh fish along with a craft beer and wine list.