{"id":8498,"date":"2025-02-27T10:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T10:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/?p=8498"},"modified":"2025-03-20T07:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T07:11:21","slug":"plans-to-convert-former-jcpenney-building-at-gateway-town-center-into-a-self-storage-in-jacksonville-fl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/plans-to-convert-former-jcpenney-building-at-gateway-town-center-into-a-self-storage-in-jacksonville-fl\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans to Convert Former JCPenney Building at Gateway Town Center into a Self-Storage in Jacksonville, FL"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The former JCPenney building at Gateway Town Center will be converted into a two-story, 100,000-square-foot indoor climate-controlled self-storage building. The developer is California-based Global Building LLC.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Buyers of the enclosed mall portion of Gateway Town Center in the Brentwood area are preparing to convert the entire former JCPenney building into an indoor climate-controlled self-storage center.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Global Building LLC President Joseph Zummo said Feb. 25 by email that the operator has not been confirmed, \u201cbut it will be a well-known and respected brand in the self-storage industry.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span>He said the two-story building will comprise about 900 storage units and be completed in the third quarter of 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The city is reviewing a permit application for an almost $2.7 million renovation at the store at 5200 Norwood Ave. Plans call for partitions on the first floor, new restrooms, finishes, ceiling grid and tiles, light fixtures, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, elevators and a portion of exterior walls and doors.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

BG Southern Division LLC of Windermere is listed as the contractor. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Much of Gateway Town Center opened more than 60 years ago, in 1959, at the Golfair Boulevard and Norwood Avenue exits east along Interstate 95 and north of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gateway Retail Center LLC sold a part of the property, about 10.7 acres, in July 2024 for $6 million to Global Building Jacksonville I LLC, which is an affiliate of Global Building LLC of Carlsbad, California. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Buyers have been starting work toward redevelopment as the investor intends to add retail stores, self-storage and affordable housing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The former JCPenney building at Gateway Town Center will be converted into self-storage units.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zummo said the developer is Global Storage Partners LLC. Global Building specializes in mixed-use and self-storage center development and ownership. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Another building on the property that was envisioned as a day care center will instead become a Jacksonville Transportation Authority facility. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The JTA board approved a proposal on Jan. 23 to buy the building for a workforce training site.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a 5-0 vote, the board authorized CEO Nat Ford to negotiate and execute a purchase and sale agreement with Global Building LLC on a 2.03-acre site that includes a 7,900-square-foot building at 910 W. 44th St. for up to $2.1 million.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A site map shows the property at the southwest corner of the mall property. <\/span><\/span><\/span>In another step, Zummo said the ownership has about 25,000 square feet of vacant retail space that it is preparing to prepare for tenant interest. <\/span><\/span><\/span>He said there also are preliminary plans to add affordable multifamily units.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Global Building bought an estimated 263,000 square feet of vacant space that served as the indoor mall and other uses. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Duval County property records show that Gateway Retail Center LLC, led by Gator Investments President and CEO James Goldsmith, had owned 53.4 acres.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

City utility JEA issued a service availability determination letter Sept. 3, 2024, for the revitalization of the property at 5156 Norwood Ave. to include day care, an office building and an affordable living facility. <\/span><\/span><\/span>The letter provides details about service connections.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After the shopping center opened in 1959, Gateway developed an indoor mall on the site in 1967. The rest of the Gateway stores opened between 1980 and 2005. <\/span><\/span><\/span>As the neighborhood struggled, Gateway closed the indoor mall and other retail space.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gateway Town Center, north of Downtown and Springfield, comprises an increasingly active shopping area where several retailers opened recently. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Gateway Retail Center has been adding new retailers that include Burlington, Five Below, Roses Discount Store, Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree and a larger Hibbett Sports.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Winn-Dixie has leased a grocery store there since 2020 with city incentives to replace Publix Super Markets Inc., which closed in 2019. The store was built in 2000.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd watching the Jacksonville area and the tremendous growth going on, we thought it was a good city (in which) to acquire our first Florida property,\u201d Zummo said July 30. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Zummo said the project will complement the existing retailers that Goldsmith has attracted. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In July 2024, Zummo said Global Building envisioned<\/em>:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Self-storage<\/strong><\/em>: Zummo said Global Building will convert the former JCPenney building into a two-story, 100,000-square-foot indoor climate-controlled self-storage building that likely will be branded either Public Storage or Extra Space, which will operate under a third-party agreement. Global Building owns it and the operator would manage it. The two-story department store comprises 132,456 square feet, property records show.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Retail:<\/strong><\/em> About 30,000 square feet of adjacent vacant retail space will be marketed to retailers, such as a furniture store and other discounters like Ross Dress For Less. \u201cWe want to add at least one more major retailer,\u201d Zummo said. He said Gateway Town Center caters to discount retailers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Early learning:<\/strong><\/em> The former Duval County Tax Collector\u2019s Office, comprising 8,044 square feet on 1.5 acres, would be turned into an early childhood learning center, but that now is targeted for the JTA training center.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Affordable apartments:<\/strong><\/em> The rest of the former mall buildings on the Global Building property will be demolished for development of affordable housing, Zummo said. Global Building will partner with a developer, which he declined to identify, for about 90 to 95 units among one or two three-story buildings on 3.5 acres. Pending approvals, construction would not start until mid-2026. He said the company is working with a Jacksonville development partner with experience in tax credits. He said Global Building will sell the property to the developer.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gator Investments of Miami Lakes took control of the Gateway Town Center property in 2012 through a certificate of title.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>After the Global Building sale, property records indicate Gator Investments continues to own almost 43 acres there. <\/span><\/span><\/span>The total mall property comprised 640,320 square feet of space. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It appears that the Gateway retail component will continue with more than 370,000 square feet of strip-center space and stand-alone buildings, such as an almost 9,400-square-foot former auto service center.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel good about it because we are doing something most people don\u2019t want to do,\u201d Goldsmith said in 2023 when Burlington and Five Below plans were confirmed for the center, which is in ZIP code 32208.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, Census data showed 29.1% of the population was below the poverty line. <\/span><\/span><\/span>\u201cWe are able to help rebuild some of America that has been neglected,\u201d Goldsmith said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buyers of the enclosed mall portion of Gateway Town Center in the Brentwood area are preparing to convert the entire former JCPenney building into an indoor climate-controlled self-storage center. Global Building LLC President Joseph Zummo said Feb. 25 by email that the operator has not been confirmed, \u201cbut it will be a well-known and respected brand in the self-storage industry.\u201d He said the two-story building will comprise about 900 storage units and be completed in the third quarter of 2025. The city is reviewing a permit application for an almost…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8498"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8498"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8501,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8498\/revisions\/8501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/listselfstorage.com\/us\/industry-insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}