Business Question (Jacksonville, University, Jacksonville Beach: leasing, condos, house)

[yankman2]

We have heard that there is a shortage of good trendy clubs/restaurants in Jacksonville. We have heard this from various business people who go down there for 3-4 day visits during the week.

I would like to ask locals if this is really true. If it is, what areas are in need of such clubs. It is hard for me to believe that the largest city in Florida and its metro area would have a shortage of clubs/restaurants, so that is why I wanted to inquire on this forum.

Thank you in advance for any information you can provide me.

Phil

[riveree]

Jax has trendy clubs and restaurants, but there is plenty of room for more.

This is a vast, spread out city, so the nightlife convenes in multiple areas - there is not "one" destination for nightlife here.

My advice would be to not seek out parts of Jax that "need" nightlife, but to move into the existing nightlife areas as a healthy competitor. This is not a city where you want to reinvent the location wheel - people simply won't drive a further distance to get to your club if you're in a further locale.

That being said, the locations you want to check out when you come for a scouting trip are:

Downtown: A small but growing scene...maybe too risky of a locale?

San Marco: Vibrant, upscale, excellent locale but $$$ for leasing space

Avondale: Smaller than San Marco, but also upscale

Riverside/5 Points: Slightly edgy, young crowd

Beaches: A younger, fun, casual scene

Southside: This is tricky - the Southside is huge and there are little pockets of nightlife sprinkled throughout - it's not one destination, it's many little ones.

[David in JAX]

I can’t speak for clubs since I’m a little old for that scene, but Jacksonville is in desperate need of more upscale / trendy restaurants. In a metro area of over 1M people I can only think of less than ten such places. It may help if you were being more specific about what type of place you are talking about though since people have different ideas about what is “trendy”.

I also agree with Riveree. Like most cities, a new trendy restaurant will only work in certain areas. In my opinion, San Marco or The Beaches would be the best bet since both are high traffic areas with people actively looking for trendy places to go. I personally think that the North Jacksonville Beach area near the new high-rise condos is screaming for a higher end restaurant. South JAX Beach has a couple and Atlantic Beach has one that I can think of. All of these places are packed all week.

[agreatlife]

And, I'm just wondering if the growing area around Race Track Road, SR 13 might be a consideration. With the tremendous building going on south down SR 13 into Rivertown, maybe it might be a good area.

[joninclay]

Originally Posted by agreatlife

And, I'm just wondering if the growing area around Race Track Road, SR 13 might be a consideration. With the tremendous building going on south down SR 13 into Rivertown, maybe it might be a good area.

For restaurants, sure. For night clubs, not so much.

Yes, Jax could use some trendier or upscale nightclubs. I would think around Tinseltown and St. Johns Town Center might be worth looking at, as well as north Jax Beach.

[cricketfan]

Don't mean to stray from the OP but it also would be nice to have a few more jazz clubs. Don't have to be upscale and they are not, generally. Nothing like the sound of some sweet jazz with the beer smells and clinking glasses in the background. Anyone has a favourite jazz club in Jax or St. Aug?

[vdecapio]

I second the Jazz club idea....does Simon's Wine Bar have jazz on the weekends...in San Marco?

[vdecapio]

Yes, I do think that the Tinseltown area is in need of a place for some nightlife. Many young professionals work and live nearby.

[vdecapio]

And one last post for a nightlife idea....there are a couple of cool lounge/clubs in downtown on East Bay St.....Mark's, the Dive Bar, TSI, etc. They are all side by side, so this is an area where people are going already.

I think it would be cool if there was a lounge/club that would open there to compliment the others and play international music that gets people dancing....i.e. Indian, Turkish, Italian, Portuguese, Brazil, etc.....something that would be cool and something new. Perhaps that same club could serve a mixed international foods menu for lunch and dinner and then open up the international dance floor at night! Aside from this downtown location, I think San Marco, Avondale, Riverside, or the Tinseltown areas are the only other places that would provide a successful location for this.

[HIF]

Simons has great live jazz. I haven't been there in a couple of months, but it started later at night on some nights, so if you're going for the music, call ahead.

And for a down-scale place, John Shaffer plays jazz at House of Jam in Mandarin. I think it's on Thursday nights. I went once by myself and it was good. It would be a great place to go to with a group of people.

What do you all think about a location closer to Baymeadows/University along San Jose? I am thinking that because Stonewood gets slammed and there is really nothing else in the area (I don't think), parking would be less of an issue and it would draw from San Marco, Mandarin and southside.