These projects
follow the trend of businesses re-investing in urban areas. An
example of this is in Los Angeles' Crenshaw Corridor, where Baldwin
Hills Crenshaw Plaza was renovated in the late 1980s to help draw
more business.
The mall overcame its negative reputation and the 1992 riots to
attract national tenants such as Gap, T.J. Maxx and The Disney
Store. A few years later, former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson
built the first of his movie theaters, which gave the area that much
more economic credibility.
For a time, the folks at Gateway Shopping Center were talking to
Johnson's people about building a theater here, but Terry Wood, the
shopping center's general manager, said the parties couldn't come to
an agreement.
Wood said he is in talks now to bring a smaller, three-screen
theater to the area. He did not say who he is negotiating with.
A long wait
Not since the 1960s and '70s has the Northside had a thriving
shopping center, movie theaters and restaurants, said Alton Yates, a
longtime resident and husband of City Councilwoman Gwen Yates.
The Hope and Moncrief projects fall within her council district.
Gateway Shopping Center, on Golfair Boulevard, was built in the
late 1950s. JC Penney and Montgomery Ward used to be its anchor
stores.
"After you completed your shopping, you could go Morrison's
[Cafeteria], sit down, have a nice lunch or dinner, put your
shopping in the car and go across to a movie."
In those days, the Gateway area also had more white residents. As
the neighborhood became increasingly black, many white neighbors
left. So did many of the area's stores.
"There were a number of opportunities that went away once the
larger malls were developed," Alton Yates added.
The Arlington area got Regency Mall; Southside has The Avenues
and two proposed malls; and Orange Park has the Orange Park Mall.
Near each existing center are movie theaters and dining.
According to ZIP code demographic reports, the three ZIP codes
surrounding Gateway Shopping Center have a population of about
117,000. The median household incomes are $34,280, $22,204 and
$43,418.
Wood, general manager of Gateway, said these numbers alone show
that the Northside can support more businesses.
Northside resident Tony Wright said he's in for a long trip if he
wants to enjoy a dinner and a movie.
"I gotta go way over there to eat and come back way over here to
shop," he said while buying a hat at Gateway Shopping Center. For
Wright, a movie theater and nice restaurants would go over well in
the Northside.
Opportunities
Hope Plaza's Jones also is a part of Gateway's ownership team
with John Lewis. Since acquiring the property in 1997, Wood said,
employment has gone from 200 to 1,200 jobs. Not counting the vacant
130,000-square-foot JC Penney's, the mall is 87 percent occupied,
with more stores in the works.
Lewis said the stores are doing well, and interest in the area is
building.
Spencer, a part of the Hope Plaza team, makes it sound simple:
"Find a need and fulfill it."
Economics, race and desire is why it took so long for a project
like Hope to come to the black community, Spencer said.
"People should be self-sustained," Spencer said. "But people need
a chance. People need something to work with."
If your biggest community businesses consists of service stations
or a barber shop, chances are slim you can circulate your dollars in
that neighborhood.
Jones said Delaney's Better Jacksonville Plan hasd the
doors for more opportunities to minority contractors who were shut
out because of discrimination.
"Everybody wants the same thing, no matter if they're black or
white," Jones said, "a nice house, good transportation, but more
importantly a good community."
The Better Jacksonville Plan was designed to make that possible.
The $2.2 billion growth strategy, funded by a half-penny sales tax,
gave the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund $25
million to dole out in tax incentives for projects to be built in
the city's Northwest area.
The Hope and Moncrief projects are trying to secure money from
the fund.
Sampson said the Northside has been underdeveloped and overlooked
for many years, but that isn't all.
"We've always had visionaries," he said. "But the visions were
too narrow."
It was a challenge to get Hope off the ground with a lack of
money and community support. Hope Plaza will represent phase three
in Sampson's plan to empower the black community.
First, you feed the hungry with fish, Sampson said. Then you
teach him how to fish. Then you teach him how to own the fishpond.
"He who owns the fishpond, controls the fish," Sampson said.
Hard work ahead
Making the Northside whole again is not an overnight job, and
Councilwoman Yates knows this.
For example, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office reported that the
total number of violent crimes in the Northside is up 31 percent,
from 187 to 245, between January and June of this year compared with
the same period in 2000. Total violent crime went down 1.7 percent
citywide during the same period.
Also, another project slated for the Northside, the Main Street
Mall, has been delayed time after time, has been scaled down and has
had problems securing financing.
Developers have said stores such as Burlington Coat Factory,
Books-A-Million, Dillard's and Old Navy wouldstores there.
"I know what I want it to be," Councilwoman Yates said about the
city's Northside. "I can close my eyes and see it."
What the future holds is very much in the air. Anything can
happen between Jacksonville now and Jacksonville 2016.
"Let's put our arms around everything," Spencer said. "It's all a
part of Jacksonville. Let's make the Northside as good as Mandarin,
Southside, San Marco...."
