Search
 

Simon's St. Johns Center Opens

JACKSONVILLE, FL-Northeast Florida is on a growth track, and a new shopping center hopes to capitalize on that.

By Dees Stribling | Updated on March 22, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, FL-St. Johns Town Center, a 1.5-million-sf open-air retail project featuring a town center with a “main street design” opened with a bang yesterday—some of it quite literally, with fireworks part of the opening celebration staged by Simon Property Group and Ben Carter Properties, which reportedly cost in excess of $1 million. Besides functioning as marketing for the new property, the to-do marked the opening of the first regional shopping mall in Jacksonville in 15 years.

St. Johns is a joint venture between Indianapolis-based Simon, the largest owner of retail property in the country, and Ben Carter, a development company based in Atlanta. Previously the two developed the Mall of Georgia in suburban Atlanta.

Observers familiar with the Jacksonville market note that the time is ripe there for retail development. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population of Duval County is about 817,000, up from about 778,000 in 2000 and 635,000 in 1990. The Jacksonville metro area has about 1.2 million people, and could grow by another 100,000 by the time of the next census. Moreover, a fair amount of the growth has stemmed from the in-migration of relatively higher-income people working in growth industries, such as health care and regional banking.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Unlimited access to GlobeSt and other free ALM publications
  • Access to 15 years of GlobeSt archives
  • Your choice of GlobeSt digital newsletters and over 70 others from popular sister publications
  • 1 free article* every 30 days across the ALM subscription network
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications

*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

GlobeSt

Join GlobeSt

Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now!

  • Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and GlobeSt events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join GlobeSt

Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.