In this week’s Building Up Jax, Senator Marco Rubio comes to take a look at Eureka Gardens and doesn’t like what he sees, plus several other notes.

Rubio’s Visit

Sen. Marco Rubio was in town yesterday to tour the much-maligned Eureka Gardens housing project, strongly chastising “slumlord” Global Ministries Foundation.

The foundation recently announced that they would sell all six of their Jacksonville properties after facing significant criticism for the apparent neglect of their properties.

According to WJXT, Rubio indicated that he will try to get the Department of Justice involved in investigating GMF.

Land clearing on Bowden

Those of you on the Southside may have noticed some land being cleared in the past week on Bowden Rd. between Philips Highway and I-95. Don’t get too excited about it, though — it appears that an office building will be built there. A permit was issued to RCW Properties, a company that manages office buildings, for the clearing.

Two Walmart Developments

Walmart will open one of its Neighborhood Market locations at the site of the former Bailey’s Gym (and before that, Food Lion) on Baymeadows Rd., according to Jax Daily Record. The store will join an area already packed densely with grocers — Publix and Winn-Dixie each reside within a mile in the Deerwood area, and each has multiple locations on Baymeadows Rd. (Winn-Dixie has 3)

Additionally, a permit was issued for the Walmart location at 11900 Atlantic Blvd. near Kernan Blvd. for a renovation valued at $980,000.

Bono’s in Springfield

According to Jax Daily Record, the 9th and Main building in Springfield will be developed into a Bono’s Bar-B-Q location as well as a pub with a stage and beer garden.

A few notes

• The Chick-fil-A on Atlantic Blvd. near Hodges Blvd. will be renovated to add a second drive-thru lane, according to the Daily Record.
• Famous Toastery will open in the former Five Guys location on 1st St. in Jax Beach, via jacksonville.com.

See any construction around town that you’re curious about? Shoot us an email at buildingupjax@coastaljax.com, or tweet a question using hashtag #bujax, and we’ll get you the details!