5 Major Retail Projects Coming to Town Center

[Metro Jacksonville]

5 Major Retail Projects Coming to Town Center



In a few months, the area around St. Johns Town Center will radically change. Here's a brief look at five major retail developments coming soon to Gate and Town Center Parkways.


Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-jun-5-major-retail-projects-coming-to-town-center

[southsider1015]

Nice article and research.

But someone might want to inform PGP that their graphic is wrong.  JTB is SR 202, not 275.

[brainstormer]

I like the intent of Mill Dam Branch and hope they can stick to their plan as they develop. Kind of reminds me of the charm of the Town Center when it first opened or of developments like Tapestry Park.

Does anyone have the potential traffic estimations for when all of this is fully built out? So many people avoid the Town Center already, I just wonder if congestion will eventually be a tipping point for the sustainability of the area.

[spuwho]

In a prior post someone mentioned that there are going to be some extensive upgrades of the Gate / Town Center Pkwy intersection.

But the biggest planning issue they are going to face is the Gate Parkway off ramps on JTB.  They already face chronic backups, where in some cases it is dangerous.

If / when Ikea comes around, that will cause further problems on Gate.

Town Center is now on its 25-30 year life cycle. Around 2030, Nocatee Town Center will start draining off people tired of the traffic hassle.

[southsider1015]

In a prior post someone mentioned that there are going to be some extensive upgrades of the Gate / Town Center Pkwy intersection.

But the biggest planning issue they are going to face is the Gate Parkway off ramps on JTB.  They already face chronic backups, where in some cases it is dangerous.

If / when Ikea comes around, that will cause further problems on Gate.

Town Center is now on its 25-30 year life cycle. Around 2030, Nocatee Town Center will start draining off people tired of the traffic hassle.

FDOT is adding another aux lane on WB JTB to Gate Pkwy, making it a dual off-ramp.  And that'll help things on JTB, but Gate Pkwy already can't handle it's current traffic nor this future traffic.

If you're the master developer, and you know that masses will shop here regardless of how bad the traffic gets, would you spend the extra money for the appropriate roadway design and related traffic improvements to ease traffic?  Apparently not.

[brainstormer]

^ Or perhaps stop the insane building of individual isolated stores/restaurants all surrounded by their own sea of asphalt with no safe way to walk from one to another. The terrible design forces people into thinking that they have to drive from one building to the next thus adding to the congestion.

The original Town Center had the right idea. All of the development on the fringes has been horrible.

[thelakelander]

Topgolf:

http://topgolf.com/us/company/press-room/press-releases/2015/topgolf-swings-into-jacksonville-continues-florida-expansion/

[mbwright]

I avoided this area 5 years ago, when not as bad.  It is much worse now.  Hard to see that all of the street capacity is in place to handle the total traffic without it being a total mess.  So glad I don't live in the area.  While this type of development is popular, driving is essential, since the heat and rain this time of year make shopping not as enjoyable. 

[KenFSU]

The terrible design forces people into thinking that they have to drive from one building to the next thus adding to the congestion.

Seems like an integrated shuttle loop with lots of clearly defined stops and a few satellite lots would practically print money. Connect to Tinseltown, UNF and maybe Top Golf/IKEA too and you've got a pretty damn useful system.

[Dapperdan]

The terrible design forces people into thinking that they have to drive from one building to the next thus adding to the congestion.

Seems like an integrated shuttle loop with lots of clearly defined stops and a few satellite lots would practically print money. Connect to Tinseltown, UNF and maybe Top Golf/IKEA too and you've got a pretty damn useful system.

But then you run into the afore mentioned problem. Where is the Town Center stop going to be? in a  sea of asphalt? If they maybe had a stop at each development within the town center, that may work, but the entire thing is totally un-walkable and unsafe especially in summer.

[Tacachale]

Those SJTC additions have some truly terrible site plans.

[KenFSU]

The terrible design forces people into thinking that they have to drive from one building to the next thus adding to the congestion.

Seems like an integrated shuttle loop with lots of clearly defined stops and a few satellite lots would practically print money. Connect to Tinseltown, UNF and maybe Top Golf/IKEA too and you've got a pretty damn useful system.

But then you run into the afore mentioned problem. Where is the Town Center stop going to be? in a  sea of asphalt? If they maybe had a stop at each development within the town center, that may work, but the entire thing is totally un-walkable and unsafe especially in summer.

Unwalkable, sure.

But unsafe, is there some empirical evidence to back this up? I can't recall ever hearing of a pedestrian being seriously injured at the Town Center, and the place has been open for a decade now. If you look both ways and observe the crosswalks, it's certainly no more dangerous than Five Points, or Riverside, or Manhattan, or any other area with heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

[thelakelander]

^Why would anyone have to cross Town Center Parkway? There's nothing there right now. Once the new developments come up, we'll have a better idea of the danger involving pedestrians trying to cross a six lane surburban highway. One thing that will help will be congestion. Once all the new places are built out, good luck trying to get up to 45mph on that stretch.

[JaxAvondale]

I had to go to "Town Center" in Nashville and the traffic was much worse than the SJTC. The area wasn't even that busy. It had more to do with the flow of traffic. So, I can understand the concerns. Building an exit at 9A & JTB would have allievated a lot of issues.

[copperfiend]

I honestly do not even want to imagine what the traffic will be like once these are done. It's at the point now where the only trips to the Town Center I make are to Costco and I generally go when they open Sunday morning or weekday evenings.