River City Marketplace


River City Marketplace is a quasi-regional outdoor shopping mall in the Northside of Jacksonville, Florida and the only one north of the St. Johns River. It opened its doors on November 17, 2006 with three major anchor stores including Walmart, Lowe's and Regal Cinemas River City Marketplace 14. The fourth, Gander Mountain, opened ten months later and closed in 2017. The shopping district is located south of Airport Road on the east side of Interstate 95, two miles east of Jacksonville International Airport. When Phase II is fully built out, the project will have cost over $300 million to build and boast more than 100 retailers.

Original Plans

The original plan for the $300 million, mixed use project included a shopping district, 900 residential units, 300 hotel rooms, and 133,000 ft2 of light industrial space. The retail center, developed by Ramco Gershenson, will eventually include of retail space and should attract shoppers from Nassau County and southeast Georgia.

Movies

Hollywood Theaters built a stand-alone building at the mall's south end. All 14 screens featured stadium seating when it opened on September 21, 2006. Portland, Oregon based Hollywood Theaters planned to spend nearly $14 million on the project, which is managed by Wallace Theaters. In 2013, it was purchased by Regal Entertainment Group to become Regal Cinemas River City Marketplace 14.

Current status

While the RCM that exists today is not exactly what the "developers originally intended", it "is still the largest shopping center to be constructed on Northside" and provides "an array of retail destinations that previously" were only available across the river or in Orange Park, a drive of approximately 20 minutes. One residential complex has been opened, with another on hold until the financial crisis of 2007–08 abates.