Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood is on track to get more restaurants and retail. Brooklyn Place is a 12,500 square foot development that’s currently undergoing planning and the approval process.
It would to be built next to Brooklyn Station, which is the shopping center anchored by The Fresh Market that’s across the street from The Florida Times-Union.
The conceptual proposal calls for a mix of “national, regional and experienced local operators consistent with the existing Brooklyn Station tenant mix.”
The renderings show five tenants, which would be a mix of restaurants and retail.
A key piece of the proposal involves the developer – The Ferber Company – doing a land swap with the city of Jacksonville.
Ferber Vice President of Development Jason Crews said the land next door to Brooklyn Station’s Burrito Gallery would be given to Ferber in exchange for another parcel behind it.
“We would go through the DIA board, then go through Council for that,” said Crews.
Both pieces of land would be developed into a combination of restaurants, retail and parking for patrons and Brooklyn neighborhood residents.
The city land is currently used as a jughandle, which is a type of traffic ramp that’s meant to improve traffic flow on Riverside Avenue headed toward Five Points.
The jughandle currently helps motorists coming off the Acosta Bridge turn into The Florida Times-Union, or make a u-turn to head downtown on Riverside Avenue.
The Morris family, which owns the property where the Times-Union is located, has expressed interest in redeveloping its property after the newspaper moves to a new downtown location later this year.
Although Crews declined to name any tenants for the project, he said he does have commitments. “We’re 90 percent leased up - or put together - should I say.”
The Ferber Company has three offices in Florida, in addition to locations in Georgia and New Jersey.
Locally, the developer is located in Ponte Vedra Beach. Among Ferber’s Florida projects is the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company location in St. Johns.
Crews said no city incentives are being requested for the project. The Ferber Company is shooting to have Brooklyn Place open by July 2019.
“For us we’re excited about the continued revitalization of that area,” Gerber said.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.