SPAR, SAMBA and other entities in the community have been courting retailers for at least 2 years.

SPAR sent representatives to the Intl Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) meeting in Ponte Vedra the first week of April, and will be attending the national ICSC in Las Vegas in May and the Florida ICSC in Orlando in August.

Springfield is not sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

Stop by 3 Layers on 6th & Walnut to hear their story of being swamped by pent up demand.

I would not spend resources going after national retailers.  They are not pioneers, they are followers.  They have the money to buy in AFTER the 'discovery' has been made.  They are not risk takers, particularly in urban areas.  They let the mom and pops do the heavy lifting, and then pouch from their success.

I would try to get the businesses already in Jax that have found success elsewhere in the metro area, and try to convince them to relocate or branch off into Springfield.  Second, I would look to rstate/regional retailers that are in FL, but not Jacksonville. Third, I would look for the start ups with the best business plans.   

Going these routes will also give you something unique that every other neighborhood can't duplicate.

Magic Johnson's urban development fund hits pay dirt
Investors raise $1 billion for projects in major metropolitan markets.
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2008
Magic still seems to have his touch.

At a time when many sources of financing for real estate projects are drying up, a fund co-founded by former Lakers guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson has banked $1 billion for commercial developments in urban neighborhoods.

Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund is expected to announce today that its third round of financing, which eclipses the combined $900 million total of its two predecessor funds, will make possible more than $4 billion in new development and upgrades of property in the country's largest metropolitan markets.

"The potential for continued revitalization in ethnically diverse communities is nearly limitless," Johnson said.

The fund is a partnership between Johnson and Beverly Hills-based Canyon Capital Realty Advisors. Among the projects Canyon-Johnson has completed: the construction of a retail and apartment complex in Hollywood and the replacement of Chicago's old police headquarters with condos and shops.

The need to upgrade urban centers is growing fast, said Bobby Turner, managing partner of the fund. The country's population is rising at a rate of 3 million annually, 90% of whom will be immigrants or people of color. Many of them head to urban centers with large minority populations.

"Demand for affordable housing and community-serving retail is only going to increase," Turner said. The continuing global credit crunch will limit the ability of some developers to get financing and further aggravate the gap between supply and demand, he predicted.

Investors in the Canyon-Johnson fund aren't deterred by the national real estate slump, Turner said. "We were able to impress on our investors that we are not investing for the next two or three years; we are investing for the next decade."

Investors in Canyon-Johnson -- including the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the University of Michigan and Verizon Communications Inc. -- can profit when projects that the fund undertakes are sold. For example, Canyon-Johnson and a partner, New Pacific Realty, paid about $100 million for the AT&T Center, formerly Transamerica Center, in downtown Los Angeles in 2003, upgraded the property and sold it for more than $200 million.

New York's pension fund has invested in all three Canyon-Johnson funds, city Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. said.

"We have expanded our investments into real estate and we thought they represented an excellent opportunity to invest in a fund targeting urban centers and also generate a good return," Thompson said. "They were pioneers in urban investment."

Johnson, a former NBA star known for his enthusiasm and flash on the court, has been a key partner in the fund's money-raising and community outreach efforts. He also brings to the table his network of corporate partnerships with Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. (Magic Johnson Theatres), Starbucks Corp., Burger King Corp., 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc., which has set up home-loan centers in low-income neighborhoods.

Johnson said he listened closely to residents in neighborhoods where the real estate funds he represented were invested. "We don't just go in and build what we want," he said.

Locals have asked for such services as bookstores, coffee bars and home furnishing shops. "These are often not found in our community," Johnson said.

In Milwaukee people asked for a Wal-Mart, and at a shopping center in Houston the neighbors wanted a police substation.

Canyon-Johnson is also committed to making its projects environmentally friendly, Turner said. The fund has helped pay for $2 billion worth of green development, he said, including a $70-million residential and retail tower in downtown Nashville.

It was the first green residential high-rise in the Southeast preapproved by the United States Green Building Council.

"Being green is not only the right thing to do environmentally but the smart thing to do financially" because it saves money on power, water and other costs, Turner said.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean keeps a basketball autographed by Johnson in his office, said Paul Ney, director of economic and community development, "but he is more delighted that a group of savvy investors elected to invest in our downtown revitalization efforts."

Other cities where Canyon-Johnson has invested include Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Diego and Washington. Two or three major projects are under consideration in Los Angeles, Johnson said, though he declined to offer specifics because negotiations were still underway.

"We will always invest money in L.A.," he said. "This is home.

Lake, this seems to be probably the best bet going for the area between 10th and 26th on Main.

The corners of 9th and Main tell another story.

Three corners are bursting at the seams with customers.  One isnt.

Three corners charge white and black people the exact same prices for their drinks.  One doesnt.

Is there any proof of this ?
Do white or black people get the cheaper drinks ?

Stephendare,

And the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls--

Thank you.

Springfield is going through a class war, plain and simple. 

So you promote the three legit pawn shops and soon pawn shop number 4 will want to be included...

In springfield's case, zoo.  Especially considering that the pawn shops own the buildings. How would you suggest that a positive outcome happen?

As long as Springfield continues to gentrify, the customers for these "shops" will eventually no longer live in the neighborhood.  Then, they will give in and sell their buildings at a profit and move their quasi-illicit (if they are dealing in stolen property they should be prosecuted) businesses elsewhere.  This is the way forward.  And, all neighbors now living in the Springfield who support the rehabilitation of the neighborhood should have an absolute boycott of these places.

If you or anyone else wants to butcher the English language may I suggest doing it in your own car, home, or yard and keep it away from the rest of us, especially are small children.

Okay, does anyone else see the irony in this statement?

Okay, does anyone else see the irony in this statement?

True, sorry everyone for getting so worked up. I just feel passionately about my children. I am really frustrated at the language they are exposed to, whether on the street or in their own yard. I have even heard little children their age using this same language in the park! I have been known to drop a few cuss words myself, but it isn’t par tof my everyday language, and I can ask a civil question without using the MF five times.

Sorry again for getting so heated
 

DD, I am also sorry if I trip over my soap-box.  I can be so booorrriing sometimes (and yes, everything seems to be a class war with me).  

The most beautiful thing happens to a man when he has a child.  (I'm mean usually here).  He becomes a hero and wants the world to be a better place for them.  So, that's just down right perfect as it should be.  BUT, when the little ones become a bit older, then can we argue over "family values?"

By TANYA PEREZ-BRENNAN
The Times-Union

Springfield's Main Street strip, the city's new arts hub, was bustling with life one Saturday night last spring. At Boomtown Theatre & Cafe, the usual suspects congregated: artists, actors, dinner guests.

Just a few doors down at the now defunct Pickett Gallerie, a string of bodies lined the sidewalk, listening to the sounds of spoken-word poetry mingle with hip-hop music in the background.

Some of the spoken-word attendees walked past Boomtown, casting cursory glances at their counterparts. The Boomtown patrons returned similar glances and retreated to their corners. It was a brief acknowledgement, nothing more. Though they were on the same block, merely doors apart, they were in two worlds: one white, one black.

The split between the mostly white patrons of Boomtown and the mostly black patrons of Pickett Gallerie seems unimaginable to many in a city striving to grow artistically. After all, many in the arts world contend that for a city's arts scene to truly flourish, there needs to be a camaraderie, a melding of sorts, where artists of all backgrounds come together.
.....
Stephen Dare, owner of Boomtown, opened his doors to the bi-monthly Soul Release spoken word event when Pickett Gallerie -- owned by Suzanne Pickett, JCAAA's treasurer -- closed last March.

"I agree with them and their reasons," Dare said of JCAAA. "I just wonder if it's setting up the black community for a separate but equal [situation]. . . . I have mixed feelings about a city that creates the need for a black arts group."

Tiffany Duhart, who runs Soul Release, said that bringing the mainly black event to Boomtown helped create a more diverse audience.

"People will already be [at Boomtown] for dinner, and then they'll stay for the show, and then bring people next time," she said.

Still, a separation of the races seems to be the norm at most art events, many local artists say.

Duhart, who is a member of JCAAA, said it is necessary to provide support for black artists by promoting group shows.

"You've got a lot of talented people here, but everyone's spread out, there's no unity," she said. "And from this standpoint there's strength in numbers."

this is the street with all the damned buildings on it, can anyone identify the pawn shops owned by the pawn shops?

That picture is just sad.  I think the Pawn shops are the least of the problems.

then its not really a 'viable' retail market.

Every new business would have to be able to succeed even it were on the outskirts of town and you had to pass a checkpoint to get there.

Those would be non location specific businesses and wouldnt effect whether or not 'springfield is a viable retail market'  As presently constituted, for the reasons listed.  It just isnt.

The proof is in the pudding.  and in the picture.

It has all the makings of one though.

I mean to say that if it werent for the counterproductive politics of the neighborhood, like the lack of communication between the african american community and the SPAR renovating community, and the all out war and/or boycott of half the businesses on main street at any time, it would ALREADY be a thriving district.

Well lake, dont rely on all this confounded theory.

After all, it should be a shoe in.

Make a few calls and get some shops lined up.

Let me know how it turns out.

Who is responsible for these "counterproductive politics" ?
What can be done to improve communication between the african american community and the SPAR renovating community (if there even is such a thing) ?

No need, I'll ask just the guys at Jim Brown's the next time I pick up a rib sandwich or a two piece chicken dinner at Popeyes on if they are being put out of business by Springfield's neighborhood politics.

this is the street with all the damned buildings on it, can anyone identify the pawn shops owned by the pawn shops?

I miss Pic n Pay

The rents on Main Street have tumbled.

Its not expensive anymore, the landlords just want tenants.

Most of them will charge no rent for a few months to allow repairs.

Panera BBs and all of Hendricks Avenue had road construction going on for years, as did Boomtown for three years of operation on Main Street.

It really is about the street traffic.

Its the reason that the leases were so divorced from reality.

Commercial Leases are based on the number of potential customers a person might get.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! isnt just an empty marketing phrase.

There is no street traffic on main street.

Fix that, and you fix everything.

You cant fix that by boycotting 40 percent of the shops, refusing to frequent another 10 percent and restricting who is allowed in the remaining (empty) 50 percent of the properties.

The Springfielders are beginning to get restless on this issue though, giving credit where credit is due.

I was surprised to find that the residents are VERY aware that a business that doesnt produce activity and street traffic is undesireable.  I was actually proud of the springfielders that all of them would groan and grit their teeth everytime a new tax returns place opens. 

Despite the professional cleanups and the shiny plastic back lit signs, the springfielders are savvy enough to know that these are merely neutral tenants who contribute nothing to the neighborhood.

So there's hope.

There's a decent amount of street traffic, according the Metro Edge Study.  However, it is limited because half the traffic can't directly access business locations located across the street because of the continuous string of closed intersections.