JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Springfield has historic homes and neighborhoods that give it a charming feel, but the area has also seen a major boom in new construction, growth and potential.
Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll has been collaborating with the city to invest more than $2 billion into downtown, with Pearl Square getting underway — over 1,200 residential units, plus dining, entertainment, and retail space.
“We have now about 32 acres across 25 city blocks,” Moll said.
But if you wander toward Springfield, Gateway Jax has acquired three different blocks of space along Main and Orange streets, with properties located at 901, 937, and 940 North Main Street, comprising a little over 5 acres.
Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll (Carlos Acevedo/News4JAX)
“We’re developing plans that will include a mixture of uses, including retail, probably some more multi-family, maybe some condominiums, potentially some really cool, lofty office space in one of the historic buildings that we own there,” Moll said.
Moll said Springfield has an incredible amount of history with charming homes and mom-and-pop shops, and because of that, he believes the neighborhood is on the rise.
Residents are telling him the same thing.
“We commonly just get the message back that like, ‘We’re so excited about being able to walk places, being able to walk from our house in South Springfield, other places, or take a bike from other places in Springfield, and be able to come downtown for a night of drinks and dinner and entertainment,’” Moll said.
Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll said Springfield has an incredible amount of history with charming homes and mom-and-pop shops, and because of that, he believes the neighborhood is on the rise. (Carlos Acevedo/News4JAX)
Allison Vaughan, a Springfield resident who’s been in the area for over a decade, said she’s really optimistic about the growth in Springfield. And as the owner of 1748 Bakehouse in Springfield, she said the growth is really helping her business out too.
Vaughan has seen the ups and downs of the historic neighborhood throughout the years.
“This neighborhood was really maligned for a long time, and people thought we were crazy for opening here. And now we get people from Mandarin, or I have a regular customer from Ponte Vedra who comes,” Vaughan said.
Allison Vaughan, a Springfield resident who’s been in the area for over a decade, opened her business, 1748 Bakehouse, in the neighborhood. (Carlos Acevedo/News4JAX)
And the growth is exciting for Vaughan.
“We have new next-door neighbors; it’s Juice Wine Bar. And that is such a compliment to our business,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan said that she feels Springfield is on a precipice and she wants the best for her community.
“I would like to see better city infrastructure,” Vaughan said. “Our neighborhood is so old that we are dealing with some of the early infrastructure.”
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