Business owners at Regency Square Mall said April 10 said they had yet to learn about the sale from its new ownership.
Lake City-based Blackwater Development LLC announced April 9 that it closed on the purchase of the mall property at 9501 Arlington Expressway.
Deeds recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Court on April 10 show a sale price of $19.1 million.
Blackwater said it will rename the property as The Nexus at Regency and redevelop it with multifamily residential communities, financial institutions and nationally recognized retail brands.
Two business owners whose shops are accessed from the exterior on the mall’s south side said they haven’t been contacted by Blackwater about the purchase.
“I haven’t heard anything,” said Terry Butler, owner of the Rhythm Factory event space. She said she reached out to the developer to find out what to tell her customers.
Butler said in the past a group of people had come through her business saying they were interested in buying the mall and they asked her about her interest in staying. However, Butler did not know whether they were from Blackwater.
Victor McNair, co-owner of Lauren’s Seafood Blues & Jazz, also said no one from Blackwater has reached out about the acquistion.
McNair said he plans to continue operating “until told otherwise.”
Inside the mall, Amy Lee, manager of Tokyo Sakura, the food court’s lone remaining restaurant, said she had not heard from Blackwater.
“I had no idea. Customers kept telling me about it,” Lee said. “I was asking them what was happening next.”
Rogers Jewelers, the lone retail tenant inside the mall, which is accessible only through the food court, declined to comment.
Duval County property records show that the Regency Mall Realty LLC group, which is selling to Blackwater Development, owns about 74 acres and about 980,200 square feet of retail space at Regency Square. It does not own Impact Church, Dillard’s Clearance Center or the former Sears store at the mall property.
At the Dillard’s Clearance Center, department manager Janice Sullivan said rumors of a sale had circulated for years but “intensified” recently.
“More and more customers and even security are talking about it,” Sullivan said. “We’re happy. Something needed to happen here.”
Impact Church, which anchors the center of the property, will continue to serve as a vital anchor and community hub within the property, Blackwater said April 9 in its news release about the sale.
The release said Blackwater remains committed to a close and collaborative partnership with the church, which was founded by George and April Davis.
“Bishop George and his team have been exceptional in sharing their hopes and vision for the future of the site — and we are actively listening and look forward to working with them,” the release said.
Calls and messages to Impact Church were not returned as of 4 p.m. April 10.
An Impact Church security guard who asked not to be named said the church knew the sale was coming. The guard said he had known for about a month.
“It’s finally out now?” he said.
Three LLCs led by New York-based Regency Mall Realty LLC bought the mall for $13 million on Feb. 14, 2014.
Regency Mall Realty LLC is a partnership of Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group LLC, both based in Great Neck, New York.
The owners faced community and lawmaker complaints for allowing the mall to deteriorate and racking up almost $2 million in code compliance fines.