Ann Taylor intends to renovate its St. Johns Town Center women’s clothing store at an estimated project cost of $650,000.
Management Resource Systems Inc. of High Point, North Carolina, is the contractor for the interior renovation of the 3,990-square-foot store at 4711 River City Drive, Unit 103.
JLL Architecture LLC of Phoenix is the architect.
The renovation includes the interior of the store and adding a new awning. There also will be new signage.
The store opened more than a decade ago and possibly in the first phase of the center 20 years ago.
The city issued a permit in May 2012 for the build-out of 3,994-square-feet of space for Ann Taylor at a cost of $309,258.
The Daily Record reported at the time that Ann Taylor was updating its space to its new prototype store, downsizing to 4,000 square feet. It intended to reopen in July 2012 and operated in the meantime in a temporary space.
Ann Taylor Factory Store, a sister brand, operates in the St. Augustine Premium Outlets.
Simon Property Group operates the St. Johns Town Center and the St. Augustine Premium Outlets.
Ann Taylor is a brand of the KnitWell Group, which also owns women’s clothing stores Chico’s, Lane Bryant, Loft, Soma, Talbots and WHBM White House Black Market, which all have stores in Northeast Florida, and Haven Well Within, a brand with a store in Denver that also is sold in some Talbots.
Chico’s, Lane Bryant, Loft, Soma and WHBM also lease at St. Johns Town Center. Talbots recently closed there but is expected to open nearby in The Markets at Town Center.
The St. Johns Town Center opened its first phase March 18, 2005, with more than 167 stores, many of which were new to the Jacksonville market at the time
St. Johns Town Center opened its second phase Oct. 26, 2007, and the third Oct. 10, 2014.
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.
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.
On another parcel, indoor bowling operator Pinstripes wants to build at the site of the demolished West Elm along Buckhead Branch Drive, near Nordstrom, with a projected opening in 2025.