Fresh Market first to open at Brooklyn Station
Store sets bar for neighborhood development
In lieu of a ribbon-cutting, company and city leaders performed a traditional “cracking of the parmesan” at the grand opening ceremony of The Fresh Market last month.
The upscale grocery store is the first of several businesses soon to open in the new Brooklyn Station on Riverside shopping center. This is the fourth Fresh Market to open in Jacksonville with stores in Ponte Vedra, the Beaches and Southside.
Brooklyn Station’s completion has been anticipated by many residents in nearby neighborhoods. The opening of the first major component to the development could satisfy those searching for something fresh and new.
At the Sept. 24 grand opening, Mayor Alvin Brown said, “This is a great day for the Brooklyn neighborhood, but it’s also a great day for Jacksonville.”
The Fresh Market brought 90 new jobs to Brooklyn and is within walking distance for many who work in the area and for those moving into the 600 residential units nearing completion at 220 Riverside and Brooklyn Riverside.
“It’s a reminder that the city is going in the right direction,” Brown noted.
The Fresh Market grocery store covers 20,400 square feet of ground. Businesses that have already signed leases with the developer, Regency Centers, take up another 16,432 square feet. Four high-demand spaces totaling another 7,204 square feet still remain open for leasing.
Scheduled to open next will likely be Corner Bakery Café on the corner of Jackson St. and Riverside Ave. and will be followed by several other retail stores and restaurants including Lucy’s Boutique, Hair Cuttery, Burger Fi, Zoe’s Kitchen, and Burrito Gallery.Each business coming to Brooklyn Station will be something Regency Centers deems appropriate for the Brooklyn neighborhood.
“We aren’t in a rush. We want to make sure that we have the right tenant mix,” Patrick McKinley, Regency Centers Senior Leasing Agent, said. “There is a high interest in what’s going on here.”All Regency Centers representatives emphasized a strong concentration on tailoring to what Brooklyn needs.
“Regency is looking at things differently,” Regency Centers Vice President Paul Maxwell said. “They don’t just want to be another strip mall. They want personality. They want to commit to the neighborhood.”
Riverside Avondale Preservation founder Wayne Wood gave a brief history of the Brooklyn neighborhood during a preview tour two days earlier. According to Wood, Brooklyn Station is the first major development on the west side of Riverside Ave. in many years.
By Garrett Frye
Resident Community News
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