The church alleges that a formal agreement for it to purchase the Regency Square Mall was broken. A second lawsuit alleges a failure to maintain the property.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Impact Church has filed two lawsuits related to the ownership and condition of Regency Square Mall, alleging a broken purchase agreement and failure to maintain the property.
Church leaders say a formal agreement to buy the 77-acre mall site was not honored and are asking a court to intervene. The mall’s new ownership group denies the allegations, calling the lawsuits meritless.
Impact Church has operated out of the former Belk building at Regency Square Mall since purchasing it in 2016. Senior Pastor Bishop George Davis said the church had planned a major redevelopment of the surrounding property.
According to a complaint filed on Jan. 21, the church alleges that broker Rurmell McGee and the new ownership group, Blackwater Regency, broke a formal agreement to sell the mall property to the church.
Court filings state McGee first attempted to help the church acquire the mall in 2021, but the effort was unsuccessful. Negotiations resumed and, according to Davis, resulted in a formal agreement.
Davis said the church planned to use 12 acres to expand its campus and PreK-12 academy, while developing the remaining 65 acres into a mixed-use project featuring a proposed 13,000 seat sports arena, restaurants and housing.
According to Davis, the church was in discussions with a separate entity to bring two sports teams to Jacksonville.
“It was a transformational vision, and the goal was to really let there be hundreds of jobs that came to the area and let this area of Jacksonville that’s been underserved for years finally get a lift,” Davis said.
Davis said that despite the agreement, the property was ultimately sold to another investor.
“We all agreed for the broker to close on our behalf, and with that information, he used it in a way that was deceptive and illegal,” Davis said.
In 2025, McGee closed on the property, and ownership was transferred to Blackwater Regency, which has since rebranded the site as “The Nexus at Regency,” a proposed mixed-use development.
During a recent Sunday service, Davis addressed the lawsuit and asked church members to pray that the truth would be revealed.
“We feel very confident that a judge or jury will look at the facts and side with us, that what happened was illegal and very deceptive,” he said.
In a separate complaint filed Dec. 30, 2025, Impact Church alleges that Blackwater Development failed to properly maintain the property, despite being required to maintain common areas.
“There’s been no resurfacing of the property. There’s been no maintenance of the property. Parts of the bricks are falling off and it’s dangerous for people. There’s been no upkeep,” Davis said.
An attorney representing McGee and Blackwater Development denied the allegations in a statement sent to First Coast News Wednesday:
“We are disappointed that Impact Church has chosen to file these two meritless lawsuits. Impact’s lawsuits are both premised upon false and misleading allegations and ignore Impact’s own repeated failures to honor its commitments. Quite simply, Impact is engaged in efforts to greenmail Regency’s redevelopers into providing Impact financial benefits to which Impact is not legally entitled. We are certain that we will be completely exonerated in these cases and that Impact Church will be held fully accountable.”
Davis said regardless of the outcome of the legal battle, Impact Church will remain in its current building and continue serving the community.