In recent years, Jacksonville has seen several of its older, less glamorous neighborhoods experience something of a renaissance.
Once-struggling communities like Springfield, Murray Hill, and Oceanway have been reignited by renewed interest from businesses, developers, and their own residents. Springfield in particular has made quite the comeback, going from relatively derelict to a close-knit, local business-oriented neighborhood that is among the most desirable areas for investors within the city’s urban core.
But once those communities max out their potential, who’s next?
We’ve highlighted four other older local neighborhoods that could be next in line for revitalization, with details on what makes these areas ideal candidates for a renaissance.
Just south of Murray Hill lies the heavily residential Lake Shore neighborhood – or Lakeshore, depending on personal preference.
Much like St. Nicholas, Lake Shore features a stretch of transit-oriented commercial development concentrated around Blanding Boulevard and San Juan Avenue. Unlike St. Nicholas, though, the area is well outside of the urban core.
However, the Blanding-San Juan intersection is just a 5-minute bike ride away from the Cedar River, along which a riverfront entertainment district could soon emerge.
King Street District, the group responsible for many of Riverside’s top venues as well as the development of The Phoenix Bar & Bowling, purchased a former boat shop next to The Phoenix in 2019 and indicated plans to open a riverfront bar and restaurant within the building. If successful, the pair of adaptive reuse projects could inspire other investors to do the same, filling in the currently derelict corridor from the river to that critical Blanding-San Juan intersection.
And in nearby Lakeside, the Roosevelt Square shopping center is being adapted into Ortega Park, a mixed-use lifestyle center and another project with the potential to act as a catalyst for its surrounding area.
Given how densely developed the area is already, adaptive reuse is the way forward in Lake Shore.
