The Nexus at Regency, formerly known as but still referred to Regency Square Mall, is firming up in size and scope of what could be coming to the 58-year-old shopping center’s prominent space in Arlington.
All told, Lake City-based Blackwater Development LLC bought 960,162 square feet of commercial space on almost 90 acres, deeds show.
Most of that space is expected to be demolished and the acreage redeveloped.
The regional shopping mall, developed starting in 1967, commands a decades-long presence at 9501 Arlington Expressway where Atlantic Boulevard connects to the expressway and continues east toward the Beaches.
The Expressway connects drivers to Downtown while the Southside Connector takes travelers north to Interstate 295 and I-95 and south to Philips Highway.
What the deeds include
Blackwater Development LLC’s $19.1 million acquisition of Regency Square Mall comprises the property that excludes Impact Church, the Dillard’s Clearance Center and the closed Sears store.
Those properties are separately owned.
What it does include is 960,162 square feet of retail and office space on 75.11 acres as well as 14.63 acres that includes retention ponds and a utility space, totaling 89.74 acres.
Deed images released on the Duval County Clerk of Courts site show the details of the property purchased and mortgaged.
Blackwater announced April 9 it bought the property. The purchase price was recorded April 10 and the deed images April 18.
Blackwater now owns the bulk of the predominantly empty mall other than the three separately owned properties and their parking lots. A few tenants remain.
The purchase includes the operating Firestone Complete Auto Care store, which is shown on development plans as one of the outparcels set to line the corner of the Expressway/Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.
Blackwater executed two deeds – $12.1 million and $7 million.
The $7 million mortgage from Tennessee-based First Horizon Bank’s Ponte Vedra Beach office covers seven outparcels and three easements included in the purchase.
The mall property generally is, clockwise, bounded by Regency Square Boulevard to the north, Monument Road to the east, Arlington Expressway/Atlantic Boulevard to the south and Southside Connector to the west.
The two retention pond are west of Southside Connector.
The deeds
The six real estate parcels listed in the deed comprise:
• 833,466 square feet of retail, including the former JC Penney Co. Inc. store, the mall office along with the auto service center. The space was built in 1967, 1982 and 1990 (the office), all on 66.294 acres.
• 126,696 square feet of retail space, the former Montgomery Ward, built in 1981 on 7.53 acres.
• Three parcels totaling14.63 acres comprising 12.63 acres of retention ponds west of Southside Connector and 2 acres east of it with a small utility structure.
• A 1.288-acre parking lot.
How big was Regency Square?
The full size of the mall, including Sears, Dillard’s and Impact Church (previously a Belk department store), totals 1.53 million square feet on 121.6 acres.
Subtracting the retention and utility acreage, the Arlington property is 107 acres.
The plans
Blackwater Development bought the property from Regency Mall Realty LLC, Regency CH LLC and Regency Nassim LLC, in care of Namdar Realty Realty Group of Great Neck, New York.,
Blackwater Regency LLC paid $12.1 million and Blackwater Regency Acquisition LLC paid $7 million.
Blackwater said April 9 the acquisition “marks the beginning of a transformative mixed-use redevelopment effort aimed at breathing new life not only to the Regency property, but also into the entire Arlington community.”
“The Regency Square Mall is the front door to Arlington, and we believe a reimagined site will serve as a catalyst for future revitalization in the community for years to come,” said Rurmell McGee, founder of Blackwater Development, in the announcement.
The redevelopment plan includes multifamily residential communities, financial institutions and nationally recognized retail brands, the release said.
A site plan was not included. The project will need city, planning and building approvals.
Impact Church, which anchors the center of the property, will continue to serve as a vital anchor and community hub within the property, the release said.
Signs of life have been surfacing surfaced as city utility JEA reviewed service availability for a redeveloped property.
Plans with that review showed 11 commercial outparcels at northwest Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road, wrapping around the inside of the southeast corner of the property.
JEA applications show sites for a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on Outparcel 1 and a gas station/convenience store, possibly a Circle K, on Outparcel 5 among the 11 outparcels.
The existing Firestone auto care store is shown on the 1.23-acre corner Outparcel 7.
The description is for “creation of (11) commercial outparcels within the existing parking lot along Atlantic Blvd and Monument Road.”
Based on the gas station and convenience store site plan dated Sept. 25, it appears that the eastern part of the mall would be redeveloped, although no specific uses were indicated.
A Sept. 25 gas station and convenience store site plan does not specify demolition, but the enclosed east mall is listed as “Main Parcel 2.”
The parking lot to the north is “Main Parcel 1.”
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.
McGee has said that parts of Regency Square Mall would be demolished and the property redeveloped with multifamily housing, retail, entertainment and other uses pending the mall’s sale.
All in all, it could be a five- to 10-year redevelopment.