Jax Beach

Five Guys Burgers and Fries, located in The Urbana at 3rd Street North and 2nd Avenue North, is among the many new retailers setting up shop in the Jacksonville Beach submarket.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH - Retail development remains strong in this area of Jacksonville’s Beaches submarket, according to two Colliers Dickinson experts on the area.

Senior Associate Jason K. Hinson and Vice President Ronald A. McVay said a waterfront area bordered by A1A (Third Street), Beach Boulevard and Ninth Avenue is quickly becoming an entertainment zone for locals and visitors alike.

New development planned or under way includes a Publix-anchored shopping center, a Four Points by Sheraton hotel, a 10,000sf retail center, mixed-use buildings, a new municipal parking garage, restaurants and taverns.

“We’re going to find from Ninth back to Beach is going to be a fun zone - especially Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” McVay said.

Those retailers already open are performing well, McVay said, citing long lines at establishments like Mellow Mushroom Pizza and Salt Life Seafood. Ground-floor retail space in mixed-use buildings like Metropolitan and Pier Point is leasing fast, he added. The new Urbana Center will include Five Guys Burgers and Fries and yogaberry, said Hinson.

The 1,200-foot Jacksonville Beach Pier and the city’s amphitheater provide entertainment venues nearly year-round, said Hinson, and McVay added that the ocean provides a draw of its own.

“It’s very clean up in that area. There are 44,000 cars that pass through a day in that area,” he said.

Rental rates are holding flat in the $18 psf to $20 psf range, Hinson said, and vacancy remains very low.

McVay said he expects market conditions to strengthen as more people try to move into or near the burgeoning entertainment zone. While no new single-family home development is under way, he said, some condominium development is being done.

Big box retailers like Home Depot and Target are only a few minutes away, he said, making a trip into Jacksonville virtually unnecessary.

Sidebar: Regency breaks ground on Seminole Shoppes

JACKSONVILLE - Regency Centers has broken ground on Seminole Shoppes, a 74,000sf retail center in Neptune Beach incorporating a 54,000sf Publix supermarket. The facility at Atlantic Boulevard and Seminole Road is the first large shopping center development in the Beaches submarket in 25 years, according to the company.

Regency is a leading national owner, operator, and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers. The company owns 443 retail properties, including those held in co-investment partnerships. Including tenant-owned square footage, the portfolio encompassed 58.9 msf located in top markets throughout the United States. Since 2000, Regency has developed 191 shopping centers, including those currently in-process, representing an investment at completion of over $3.0 billion.