Some business owners in the St. Johns Town Center area say they’re looking forward to the new development but are concerned about potential traffic increases.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new sporting and entertainment district is coming to Jacksonville’s St. Johns Town Center area.
On Monday, Sporting JAX announced it plans to build a 15,000-seat stadium that will serve as the permanent home for its men’s and women’s soccer clubs. The development will also include retail, dining and entertainment.
“We are proud to introduce the intended site for Sporting JAX’s permanent home in the town center area,” Sporting JAX Owner Ricky Caplin said.
Caplin said the project will go beyond a stadium and will be a place that brings in more shoppers and tourists to the area.
“This will not simply be a stadium, it will be a true urban sporting district with walkable streets, dining, hospitality, nightlife, and entertainment, all anchored by a community-centered stadium at its core,” Caplin said.
Renderings released Monday show a large-scale development, though the soccer club hasn’t released exactly where the stadium is going to be built, nor how large the development will be. But the announcement has generated excitement among some local business owners, who say Town Center is already a destination for shoppers across Jacksonville.
“I wanted to open here in the town center because I know this is a destination spot for Jacksonville. When people are looking to shop, they think of the town center,” Christie Jones Bird, founder and president of Jones and Rose, said.
Her storefront is right near one of the entrances to Town Center on Midtown Parkway. She says weekends are already the busiest time for her business and that traffic in and out of the area can already be challenging.
“The traffic gets a little congested on those days because most of Jacksonville is convening in one space coming to the Town Center for retail, so it can get a little busy,” Jones Bird said.
While she welcomes growth, she says managing congestion must be a priority.
“Even though we want more traffic in the area and we want this to continue to be a destination space we don’t want consumers to get frustrated because they can’t get to their favorite stores because traffic is so busy for a certain venue, so this. Has to be key and a primary um focal point in terms of how do we manage the traffic in this area,” Jones Bird said.
In a statement sent to First Coast News, City Councilman Will Lahnen, who represents part of the Town Center area, said current findings show two of the main roads — St. Johns Bluff Road and Town Center Parkway — have the capacity to handle additional traffic and that they will continue relying on the services of JSO during busy traffic times, like the holidays.