Farewell to the Regency Square Mall’s food court and, for those who remember the closed 59-year-old Arlington retail center, memories of Mr. Dunderbak’s German deli and the Lillie Rubin women’s dress boutique.
The closed mall’s east wing is in review for demolition as owners prepare to redevelop the site into The Nexus at Regency mixed-use development at 9501 Arlington Expressway.
Owner Blackwater Regency LLC has applied to the city to demolish the Arlington shopping center structure from the central Impact Church building to the closed JCPenney building at the east end.
The city is reviewing a permit application for Realco Recycling Co. Inc. of Jacksonville to demolish 371,444 square feet of space of the closed mall which sits where Atlantic Boulevard meets the expressway.
Impact Church owns and operates within its building, which is the former Belk department store and is not part of the demolition.
The former JCPenney is expected to remain standing for potential redevelopment as an indoor self-storage center.
The permit application shows demolition would be 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The procedure uses a track-mounted excavator with a hydraulic grapple, and debris will be loaded into dump trucks for hauling to an approved landfill or concrete recycling facility.
The property will be leveled to prepare for construction.
Blackwater Development President Rurmell McGee had no comment. Blackwater Development bought the property through Blackwater Regency LLC.
The building demolition application comes after the city issued a permit April 6 for site-clearing on another part of the site at a project cost of almost $3.7 million to create outparcels.
That permit allows removal of asphalt, sidewalks and curbs, and work on storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water main, fire main, subgrade, base, curb, sidewalk, asphalt paving, striping and signage, the permit application says.
The city approved civil engineering development and sketch plans March 26 to allow Blackwater Development to prepare what plans show as eight outparcels from 1.1 acres to 2.25 acres at the mall property’s southwest corner at Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.
The mall is at northwest Arlington Expressway/Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road in Arlington. The mall is between Southside Connector and Monument Road, north of Arlington Expressway and Atlantic Boulevard.
McGee said March 26 the approvals mean his group can “take this next step in the transformation of the Regency Square Mall.”
Civil engineering plans initially showed seven outparcels along the front and a good portion of the East Mall to be demolished.
Blackwater Development and EnVision Design + Engineering LLC submitted civil engineering plans to the city Sept. 24, 2025, that provided a clearer look at what might be planned. Thomas Duke Architect is the principal architectural firm for The Nexus at Regency.
Lake City-based Blackwater bought the bulk of the mall, while Impact Church, the Dillard’s Clearance Center and the closed Sears are separately owned and are not part of the redevelopment plans.
The East Mall was developed in 1967, while the West Mall was added in 1981-82, and more space was built in the early 1990s.
The West Mall has long been closed. The last two interior East Mall tenants closed May 31, 2025.
Blackwater Development bought the bulk of the mall property April 9, 2025, for $19.1 million from New York-based limited liability companies associated with Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group.
The company bought 960,162 square feet of commercial space, much of which is expected to be demolished and the acreage redeveloped.
Blackwater said upon the purchase that it would rename the property The Nexus at Regency and redevelop it with multifamily residential communities, financial institutions and nationally recognized retail brands.
In April 2025, Blackwater paid $20,000 to the city to settle $1.92 million in code compliance fines that the seller piled up as the mall deteriorated with damaged ceilings, floors and other issues.
Blackwater has up to two years to comply with the settlement obligations or lose the money and face the resumption of fines.
One way to comply is demolition, which is what Blackwater said it intends to do.
First steps
Blackwater Development announced Sept. 18, 2025, that it was submitting an application for civil engineering permits with the initial phase focusing on the front 11 acres along Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.
The company said the area is designed “to set the tone for the broader 77-acre project.”
It said the permits would encompass construction of new roads and infrastructure providing access to future outparcels; the installation of water, sewer and electric systems to service the outparcels; development of a new roundabout at the main entrance; and a landscaping plan.
Previously filed plans had indicated up to 11 total outparcels wrapping around the southeast corner of the property at Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road.
Blackwater said that outparcels would be available for retail, banking and other uses.
Users so far have been identified in regulatory filings as Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers; a gas station and convenience store; Chase Bank; the existing Firestone Complete Auto Care on Lot 7 on the corner; and interest by Dutch Bros Coffee for a kiosk on the property.
Civil engineering plans also indicated:
• The closed JCPenney store would remain a freestanding building at the east end of the mall.
• The rest of the East Mall from Impact Church to the JCPenney would be demolished.
• The closed West Mall from Impact Church to Dillard’s and Sears remains for now.
• A roundabout would be built at the front entrance into the property.
Plans also include improvements of parking, landscaping, pavement, driveways, sidewalks and curbing.
Litigation
It’s unclear to what extent the project can be developed until litigation is resolved.
Impact Church of Jacksonville Inc., which owns its building on the former mall grounds, filed two complaints since late 2025 in the 4th Judicial Circuit Court against Blackwater Regency LLC, Blackwater Regency Acquisition LLC, McGee, real estate developer Ramzy Bakkar, Xera Realty Inc. and Mustard Tree LLC.
The lawsuit accuses Blackwater of diverting a deal from the Jacksonville church to acquire the property.
Eric Lawson, corporate counsel for Impact, said the church wanted to buy the mall property and began working with McGee in his capacity as a real estate broker for the purchase to earn a commission on the sale.
Impact Church alleges McGee breached the agreement by purchasing the property without the church’s knowledge.
McGee and Blackwater deny the claims.