20 years after opening, St. Johns Town Center showing signs of change

Columnists
Mathis Report

They are signs of the times.

Almost 20 years after it opened, St. Johns Town Center is replacing three main entry signs that have greeted visitors since the project launched its first phase of shopping in 2005.

The city issued permits Nov. 6 for three of the four entry monument signs along Town Center Parkway.

Dowling Signs of North Central Florida, based in High Springs, is the contractor on the three permits – two at the main entrance at 10210 and 10211 Midtown Parkway and another at 4815 Big Island Drive.

The existing multitenant monument signs will be removed and replaced.

The monument sign at St. Johns Town Center at Town Center Parkway and Midtown Drive is shown Nov. 7, 2024.The sign, built when the shopping center launched in 2005, will be replaced. It is the road that leads to Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant.

The two main signs that flank the first-phase entrance at Midtown Parkway - the road that leads to Maggiano’s Little Italy - will be replaced at a project cost of $91,450 each.

The third sign’s project cost is $117,000. That signage is at the connection of Town Center Parkway and Big Island Drive, which wraps around the second and third phases of St. Johns Town Center that include Nordstrom and The Capital Grille.

A rendering of the new St. Johns Town Center monument sign planned at Midtown Parkway and Town Center Parkway. This is the entrance that leads directly toward Maggiano's Little Italy resturant.

In addition to the name St. Johns Town Center, A Simon Mall, tenant names among the signs could include Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, RH, AC Marriott, Barnes & Noble, Pinstripes, The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and The Capital Grille.

A site map with the permit plans show a fourth sign at the entrance between McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A at River Marsh Drive Plans will be replaced.

Left, The St. Johns Town Center monument sign at Town Center Parkway and Big Island Drive. The sign, near Truist Bank, will be replaced with the sign at right.

Simon Property Group of Indianapolis is the landlord of the center, which anchors northwest Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295.

The signage tenant names span the center’s four phases.

St. Johns Town Center opened its first phase March 18, 2005, the second Oct. 26, 2007, and the third Oct. 10, 2014.

The St. Johns Town Center monument sign at Town Center Parkway and Big Island Drive near Truist Bank is shown Nov. 7, 2024.

The second phase, which opened just before the 2007-09 recession, brought in upscale retailers like Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton and Coach.

The third phase was anchored by Nordstrom, which opened a two-level, 124,000-square-foot department store.

A rendering of the new St. Johns Town Center monument sign at Town Center Parkway and Big Island Drive. It is near Truist Bank.

The fourth phase was designed among four parcels.

Two of those are built – RH Jacksonville, formerly called Restoration Hardware, and the AC Hotels by Marriott.

RH opened Nov. 19, 2021. The hotel opened in March 2024.

Indoor bowling operator Pinstripes wants to build at the site of the closed West Elm along Buckhead Branch Drive, near Nordstrom, with a projected opening in 2025.