Regency Square Mall Comes Down: 371,444 Square Feet Under Demolition, 11 Outparcels Planned and a Spring Finish for The Nexus at Regency

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Demolition of the former Regency Square Mall on Jacksonville's Arlington Expressway has moved to the mall's main entrance, according to drone photos taken Nov. 3 and published by the Jacksonville Daily Record. The skeleton of the entrance is still standing and will be among the last pieces removed. The work is part of a redevelopment that will rename the site The Nexus at Regency.

The mall at 9501 Arlington Expressway opened on March 2, 1967, and was then considered the largest indoor, air-conditioned and heated shopping center in the Southeast, the Daily Record reported. More than 59 years later, the East Mall is being taken apart piece by piece. This report summarizes where the work stands, who owns the property and what the new owner says will come next.

Where the demolition stands

Realco Recycling Co. began demolishing the East Mall on Sept. 14, starting with the food court and a wall shared with Impact Church, which is separately owned and still operating, according to the Daily Record. Crews have since moved east toward the main entrance and toward the closed JCPenney store, which is to be kept. The city issued a demolition permit on Aug. 28 covering 371,444 square feet, including the structure, slabs and foundations.

Realco expects to finish razing and site work in the spring, likely before the March 2 anniversary of the mall's 1967 opening, the Daily Record reported. Debris will go to an approved landfill or a concrete recycling facility, and the site will be leveled for future construction. Blackwater Development president Rurmell McGee said on Sept. 8 that the eastern demolition would take five to six months.

The numbers

Source: Jacksonville Daily Record.

Who owns it and what comes next

Lake City-based Blackwater Development bought the bulk of the property in April 2025 for $19.1 million from New York-based limited liability companies tied to Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group, according to the Daily Record. The purchase covered 960,162 square feet of commercial space on about 77 acres. It excluded Impact Church, the former Sears building and Dillard's. Urban Partners Construction of Jacksonville is the general contractor.

Blackwater plans to rename the property The Nexus at Regency and says it will blend medical, multifamily, retail, dining, entertainment and office uses, the Daily Record reported. The JCPenney building will remain as a standalone 176,000-square-foot structure with no specified use, and Blackwater is talking with prospective tenants for medical, medical office, retail, fitness, general office and technical education uses. Land between Impact Church and JCPenney may hold a seven- or eight-building apartment complex, possibly with a parking garage.

Outparcels along the roads

Blackwater plans 11 outparcels along Atlantic Boulevard and Monument Road, according to the Daily Record. The existing Firestone Auto Care will stay. A city permit issued April 6 covers parking lot clearing at a cost of almost $3.7 million.

The West Mall, which stretches from Impact Church to the closed Sears and the operating Dillard's Clearance Center, has not been touched by demolition. The Daily Record's reporting does not say what is planned for that section or when. Impact Church, which owns its own building, remains open next to the work zone.

A short history

The East Mall was built in 1966-67 by Martin and Joan Stein's Regency Square Properties, and the West Mall was added in 1981-82, with more space in the early 1990s, according to the Daily Record. The Steins' company sold the mall in 1991 to an entity later controlled by General Growth Properties of Chicago. General Growth went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009-2010 and sold the mall in 2014.

Three limited liability companies led by Regency Mall Realty LLC, a partnership of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group, bought it for $13 million on Feb. 14, 2014, the Daily Record reported. That owner sold the movie theater parcel in 2015 for $26.2 million and the closed Belk store to Impact Church in 2016 for $7 million. The last two interior East Mall tenants closed on May 31, 2025.

Why it came down

The West Mall has been closed for years, and the property kept deteriorating after the remaining tenants left. Mold, rain and heat caused ceiling and floor damage and city code compliance fines, the Daily Record reported. Demolition was one option for resolving those fines.

What to watch

The next milestones are the removal of the main entrance, the clearing of the East Mall site and any announcement of tenants for the JCPenney building. Blackwater has said it is talking with prospective tenants but has not named them in the reports reviewed. No opening dates for any new tenants have been announced in the reports reviewed.