Parkway Shops Coming to the Northside

[JaxNative68]

how many more Ross Dress for Less, Wal-Mart, Lowes, PetSmart and Best Buy store do we need in the Jacksonville area?  Is it just me, or does every new shopping center "glorified strip mall" have the same stores as the other one just 5 or 10 miles down the road?

[be4real]

Who are the geniuses who plan for Jacksonville?  We have a monorail system which goes nowhere.  Why couldn't money have been allocated for a monorail system which would be helpful in terms of helping people (those who don't drive for what ever reason) to get to points of interest in the city. Planners, I thought, were supposed to plan for the future and not for the present.
I have one word for the urban and city planners: THINK!

[I-10east]

The anti-suburban banter continues. I think that people forgot that Parkway Shops is in a suburban setting and not downtown. I'll tell you what, don't put anything there and everyone would be happy. Atleast wait until the stores are announced before saying they're not gonna be unique to the area.

[thelakelander]

The setting is what you make of it.  You can be suburban, yet still sustainable and walkable.  Cities all across the country are proving this and our older urban neighborhoods (ex. Riverside/Avondale) are local examples of walkable suburbanism.  At some point, we need to separate the term "suburban" vs "unsustainable sprawl" that can't support itself financially.

[JaxNative68]

Ditto. 

I’m not so much anti-suburban as I am strip mall central.  Did you get a good look at the aerial and plan?  It is a fleet of cookie cutter big box anywhere America stores set in a sea of asphalt that spreads a majestic carbon footprint on the environment.

No imagination!

[strider]

Isn't it because we all get used to it?  Jay leno on late night TV, comfortable because we are used to it.  Chilis on every corner.  Comfortable because we are used to it. Walmart, Walgreens, the places to shop because we are used to them. The same in every city because we are sheep to some extent and what works on one city will work in the next. We can fly anywhere and know that we can find a Chilis to eat at. The roads look the same, the stores are the same. Most of us are really just asleep afterall.....

[thelakelander]

My thing is with proper local zoning even the chains and their standard boxes can be laid out to promote walkablity, transit use and density.


Chattanooga: A typical Residence Inn box creates a different atmosphere when the building faces the sidewalk and street, while the surface parking goes behind it.


Chattanooga: Put the parking behind Chilis and it would fit in well with most urban areas.


Charlotte: The same goes for the standard Office Depot box.


Charlotte: A fast food restaurant.


Miami: Flagler Street Walgreens


Suburban Charlotte: From the street this looks like an infill urban development.


Its actually a typical strip shopping center.  The asphalt parking is just shielded from the street.


Louisville: A typical McDonalds in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood.

[simms3]

Bump: status update?

[thelakelander]

Here's an update:

Parkway Shops

Ramco-GershensonProperties Trust, the developers of the large North Jacksonville shopping center - River City Marketplace - are all ready to go on a new project across the street.

Site plans for Parkway Shops call for a line of stores along Duval Road. Ed Eickoff, vice president of development for Ramco-Gershenson, said no tenants have signed contracts yet. But he said the new shopping center will have two anchors of 50,000 square feet or larger, two more stores in the 25,000-50,000 range, another 50,000 square feet of smaller shops and 35,000 square feet of outparcels, which would include some restaurants.

Construction is expected to start in December 2011 or January 2012, he said, with the opening in spring 2013.

Meanwhile, the Marketplace is just about full, he said. A Buffalo Wild Wings is under construction and a steakhouse, which he couldn't name, is planned in front of Best Buy.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-11-08/story/shopping-center-plans-spring-fall

[tlemans]

What is the latest on this project?

[fsujax]

they are clearing land, was just out there Saturday.

[thelakelander]

Phase 1 will be a small strip center adjacent to I-95 with some retail outparcels. The anchors will be Dick's Sporting Goods and Marshall's.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=535749

[tlemans]

Thanks for the update. I wonder if any new restaurants will be in this development. It is great to see the northside growing. SJTC restaurants are  so crowded on the weekends we could use a new place to dine.

[JeffreyS]

They certainly are not rushing to take advantage of the Mobility Fee Moratorium.

[Ocklawaha]

Who are the geniuses who plan for Jacksonville?  We have a monorail system which goes nowhere.  Why couldn't money have been allocated for a monorail system which would be helpful in terms of helping people (those who don't drive for what ever reason) to get to points of interest in the city. Planners, I thought, were supposed to plan for the future and not for the present.
I have one word for the urban and city planners: THINK!

Good point's only the city ISN'T doing this, this is private enterprise at work and they will be paying taxes which will help with the betterment's we all want to see.

Granted that the zoning should reflect an urban city and not another University Blvd style parking ranch.