Regency Square Mall’s two remaining inside tenants said they are closing May 31 in preparation for the interior of the East Mall’s closure June 1.
Lake City-based Blackwater Development LLC bought the bulk of the Arlington mall property at 9501 Arlington Expressway on April 9 and plans to redevelop it.
Tokyo Sakura says it will operate a half-day May 31 to use up its remaining inventory. A representative said it did not have a new location “right now.” It is the last food court tenant.
Rogers Jewelers, the last retail store at the mall, will close at 6:30 p.m. May 31. An associate said the business would continue to operate via its Instagram account and would announce any potential move to a new location there.
Both said the interior East Mall, the last part to remain open to the public, will close June 1.
The tenants with access from the outside of the mall remain open. They include Lauren’s Seafood Blues & Jazz and the Rhythm Factory event space.
“The Regency Square Mall has been a fixture of the Jacksonville community, but after years of serving its patrons, the interior mall is closing,” said Blackwater Development owner Rurmell McGee in a statement May 29.
He said he “has had to make the difficult decision of letting go the last two remaining tenants of the interior mall in order to close the East corridor of the mall earlier than expected.”
“The damages to the East corridor were enough of a concern for the safety of the public along with any would be patrons of the mall,” he said.
Outside tenants open
Tenants with outside access to the mall will be able to remain at the present time.
“The closing of the East corridor marks the final closure of inside access to the Regency Square Mall as the West corridor was closed by the previous owners,” McGee said.
Victor McNair, co-owner of Lauren’s Seafood Blues & Jazz, said his business is renting month-to-month and that he would be given 30 days’ notice before having to vacate the property.
Lauren’s Seafood, near Impact Church, is accessed by doors facing the parking lot.
McNair said the mall owner is moving forward on demolishing it and surveyors have been working at the property. He said permission to tear it down would take “a good bit” of time.
McNair said he had been in contact with McGee, and calls him “a nice guy doing the best he can.”
Terry Butler, owner of the Rhythm Factory event space near the main front entrance to the mall, said she is talking with Blackwater about her location.
She said she has events booked at the space and is looking for a new location.
“We are aggressively looking,” she said.
Mall sold April 9
Deeds recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Court show Blackwater bought the mall April 9 for $19.1 million.
New York-based limited liability companies associated with Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group sold the property.
Impact Church, Dillard’s Clearance Center and the former Sears store at the mall property are separately owned and are were not involved in the sale. The church and Dillard’s continue to operate.
The East Mall is from Impact Church east to the closed JC Penney. The West Mall, which has been closed for years, is from the church west to Dillard’s and the closed Sears.
Blackwater said it will rename the 58-year-old property as The Nexus at Regency and redevelop it with multifamily residential communities, financial institutions and nationally recognized retail brands.
Blackwater Development 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 where Atlantic Boulevard connects to the expressway and continues east toward the Beaches.
Blackwater paid $20,000 to the city to settle the $1.922 million in code compliance fines that the seller piled up as the mall deteriorated with damaged ceilings, floors and other structures.
Blackwater has up to two years to comply with the settlement obligations or lose the money and face the resumption of fines.
Path to demolition
One way to comply is demolition, which is what Blackwater intends to do.
“I’m not aware of the closing but I am not surprised,” District 1 City Council member Ken Amaro said May 29.
“They have to demonstrate they are moving forward. This is clearly a demonstration they are moving forward,” he said of Blackwater.
Of the two interior tenants, “personally I am surprised they were able to survive.”
Amaro, whose district includes Regency Square Mall, said the closing “means the work to rehabilitate, transform and make Regency catalytic is starting.”
“I think there is a genuine effort to capture and preserve the legacy of that property and to make it transformative and catalytic for that area and it seems to be heading in that direction.”
Editor Monty Zickuhr contributed to this report.