Cross Regions Group, the developer of The Fountains at St. Johns mixed-used development in St. Augustine, is planning a comparable development in West Jacksonville.
David Ergisi, president and CEO of the commercial real estate company, said he intends to build a similar but smaller project, which will bring retail, restaurants, health care and hospitality to the area.
The Fountains at Westside is on 26.2 acres at southeast Lane Avenue and Ramona Boulevard south of Interstate 10. The site is mostly undeveloped, except for an Office Depot that will be updated and incorporated into the overall Fountains at Westside project, Ergisi said.
The property is the former Westside Plaza, built in 1970. Previous tenants included The Home Depot and Piccadilly cafeteria. The Home Depot moved and the building became Johnson’s Family Flea and Farmers Market. It was demolished, as was the Piccadilly building.
Cross Regions, through Fountains at Westside LLC, bought the site in four parcels Dec. 23 for about $9.8 million.
Jacksonville-based Grace & Co. Inc. was the seller. A Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q restaurant on an outparcel at the site was not part of the deal.
“Fountains at Westside is sizable enough where we can make a similar impact in this section of the city that we have in St. Johns County,” Ergisi said.
“There is a major population there and a lot of rooftops. A lot of those people have to go to River City Marketplace or St. Johns Town Center. There is not a hub. This development will create that hub for them.”
Ergisi said the site was selected after a health care system approached Cross Regions about researching the area and identifying land where it could build a hospital.
“This property was the largest available parcel in this particular area where they wanted to be,” Ergisi said.
The hospital project ultimately did not advance, but after doing research, Ergisi decided to move forward with his own project there.
At full build-out, Fountains at Westside could have as many as 17 buildings on seven or eight outparcels. Ergisi estimated the project will have 100,000 square feet of retail, medical offices and an outpatient surgery center, potentially a hotel and multifamily or senior care.
Though a similar concept to Fountains at St. Johns, Ergisi said Fountains at Westside will have its own look.
“It will have design characteristics to be a better match to this particular marketplace, but overall the goal and the vision is the same,” he said.
“To create a synergetic hub for community members, residents and the industrial industry.”
He said there may not be an anchor tenant.
“We are in talks with multiple groups, but we haven’t committed to an anchor,” he said.
“And frankly I’m not looking for an anchor for this. We aren’t in need of an anchor. We have multiple users that we feel strongly that we can bring in.”
He said work on the project is moving forward.
“We’re fully engaged. We’re in the predevelopment phase,” Ergisi said.
“We had completed our due diligence as we were acquiring the property and now we have ownership of the property. We’re in the design, predevelopment phase and we’re already talking to potential users with strong interest.”
He said he expects construction on all parcels will be underway within the next three years, but will start this year.
At full build-out The Fountains at St. Johns will be about 100 acres. The first 23-acre phase is completed. It includes restaurants and health care-related tenants.
