Few cities in America were impacted by the rise of suburban shopping malls as significantly as Jacksonville.
The city had already built up a reputation as a shopping mecca through its decades of thriving downtown department stores. It therefore came as no surprise that, when shopping malls boomed in popularity in the 1960s, mall developers set their sights on the Bold City.
Five enclosed shopping malls debuted in Jacksonville during the ‘60s, and another three were built in the decades since. Only two are still in operation as malls, with the rest having been either redeveloped for a new purpose or demolished.
We’ve put together a brief history of each of Jacksonville’s eight indoor shopping malls, as a reminder of how the city was once among the country’s finest shopping destinations.
The Jacksonville Landing, the city’s only attempt at a downtown mall, debuted in 1987 along the Northbank. Developed by The Rouse Company, the two-story, $37.5 million mall featured dozens of shops and an upper-level food court. Intended as both a mall and entertainment center, the Landing was anchored by restaurants Annie Tiques, Fat Tuesday’s, Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grille, and Hooters. Within its corridors, it featured a selection of national chains including B. Dalton, Foot Locker, Banana Republic, Sharper Image, The Gap, and more, along with a handful of local businesses.
Though it opened to much fanfare, the Landing struggled almost immediately due to lack of available parking nearby, along with the lack of other things to do downtown. Most of its national tenants had left after less than a decade. The mall remained popular as an event venue, drawing massive crowds during Florida-Georgia weekend, but its corridors became increasingly empty over the years.
The building was sold to Sleiman Enterprises in 2003. Its new owner proposed several redevelopment projects for the property but was never able to reach an agreement with the city to provide adequate parking. By the time a parking lot was secured for the Landing in 2010, it was far too late to revitalize the existing mall.
Following a mass shooting event in 2018, the city began negotiating with Sleiman Enterprises to buy back the building. It did so, at a cost of $18 million, and demolished the Landing late last year.
The Avenues is not going anywhere. That mall is in a better side of town and is more convenient to all areas of Jacksonville & even nearby St. John’s County to the south. Although stores began leaving in recent years, the mall is generally very healthy. The departure of Sears in late 2019 didn’t really affect the mall. Another plus is that the store occupied 120,000 square feet and was leased by Sears rather than being a 200,000 square foot store owned by Seritage Growth Properties. I will say that many of those stores, along with the ones at Regency & Orange Park, are going to stay vacant longer than the Avenues location. Simon is very good at filling vacant boxes so they won’t have a problem finding a new vibrant tenant for the space. The difference between the Avenues vs. Orange Park & Regency is that the area of Arlington isn’t very well ran considering how badly rundown Regency is, & I’m not saying that Orange Park will go under, but that mall is more for the middle class, & whereas with the Avenues, the surrounding areas are more affluent. Don’t be negative at all, I do think the Avenues will better compete with St. John’s Town Center by getting another makeover and having a Von Maur to replace the former Sears in 2022. In general, Jax’s Southside is very innovative. One thing that the Avenues & St. John’s Town Center have in common is that they’re both owned by Simon, which also owns other high quality malls. Either way, right now is a very tough time for all retailers & shopping centers, so there’s a chance that things will get better as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic slows down.