Paradise Found 2

DUVALL COUNTY continued
(Downtown Jacksonville, Mandarin, Northside, Ortega, Riverside/Avondale, San Marco, Springfield, Southside and Westside)

Downtown Jacksonville

On May 3, 1901, a family living in a shanty at the edge of downtown Jacksonville began to prepare a midday meal. An errant cinder leapt from the chimney of the stove and floated west, landing on a pile of moss in the yard of a mattress factory at Davis and Beaver streets.

That spark began a cataclysm that would remake this rough-and-tumble port city into a modern metropolis. The Great Fire of 1901, as it would come to be known, destroyed 2,368 buildings—most of downtown—and left 10,000 people homeless.

Then, no sooner had the smoke cleared than a new Jacksonville rose, quite literally, from the ashes. Within five years, 1,500 new buildings had gone up, including several designed by nationally recognized architects energized at the prospect of helping to rebuild a major city.

In the decades that followed, Jacksonville has, in turns, been characterized as a resort destination, a movie capital, a golf mecca, a manufacturing center, a progressive business center and, as of this February, a Super Bowl city.

The world got a good look at downtown Jacksonville during Super Bowl XXXIX, when the Main Street Bridge was closed to traffic and recast as a promenade for events along the St. Johns River and docked cruise ships provided lodging for visitors.

Also during the big game, vacant tracts along both sides of the river were transformed into entertainment centers, including the NFL Experience interactive theme park on the Northbank near Alltel Stadium. It all looked grand on television, and the city received high marks for its organization and hospitality.

But will the hoopla bring lasting change? Although it's too early to tell what the long-term impact will be, it's clear that downtown was a region on the rise well before the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles came to town.

In addition to 5.6 miles of water frontage, Jacksonville's urban core boasts 256 acres of parks and public spaces, at least 90 eateries of every type imaginable and numerous galleries, museums and theaters.

To prep for the Super Bowl, Alltel Stadium underwent more than $59 million in improvements while the red-brick, Triple-A-eligible Jacksonville Baseball Grounds has replaced 45-year-old Wolfson Park. And construction was completed in 2003 on Veteran's Memorial Arena, which plays host to major concerts and sporting events.

Additional downtown projects include a $268-million federal courthouse at Hemming Plaza and a $95-million replacement for the circa-1950s public library. Also in the works: a $250-million renovation and expansion of The Jacksonville Landing, a struggling riverfront entertainment and retail complex originally opened in 1987.

Developer Tony Sleiman, who purchased The Landing two years ago, plans to update the exterior, build a 120-slip marina and ultimately add a 25-story tower with retail space, offices and condominiums. Although Sleiman has encountered the inevitable disputes with city officials over financial incentives and the project's scope, he remains optimistic.

So does Mayor John Peyton, who recently reiterated the city's commitment to a more vibrant downtown when he told a women's business group he believes the city needs 8,000 to 10,000 housing units in the area. So far, more than 2,000 condominiums and rental apartments have come online, both in new buildings and renovated structures.

As of today, the number of residents in downtown proper is just 1,200. But 25 percent of those city dwellers relocated within the past two years, according to Lyn Briggs, director of marketing at Downtown Vision, a business improvement and advocacy organization.

"We're becoming a residential community," says Briggs, who hopes downtown can reach a critical mass of 10,000 residents within nine years.

Briggs' group defines downtown using the following boundaries: On the Northbank, the boundaries are State Street to the north, A. Philip Randolph Avenue to the east, the St. Johns to the south and I-95 to McCoy's Creek on the west. On the Southbank, the boundaries are the St. Johns to the north, Prudential Drive to the south, the Fuller Warren Bridge to the west and the Southside Generating Station to the east.

Among the big downtown residential projects already completed is the 22-story, 206-unit Plaza Condominiums at Berkman Plaza and Marina, located on the Northbank.

Another major Northbank initiative, a 45-acre mixed-use residential, retail and office complex on the site of the old Jacksonville Shipyards, has, like The Landing, been plagued with problems and delays.

The original developer, TriLegacy Group, tangled with city officials over the expenditure of city incentive money. Work stalled as the developer and the city traded accusations of bad faith—and worse. A grand jury investigating the deal issued no criminal indictments, but criticized the city for a lack of effective oversight.

Now, however, the massive project appears back on track. In May, the Jacksonville City Council voted to turn the Shipyards development over to Jacksonville-based LandMar Group. Over a period of years, LandMar will transform the vacant property into a $450-million complex of condominiums, town homes, offices, shops and hotels.

Ed Burr, LandMar's chief executive officer, says the Shipyards project "will lead us to greatness as a city." The company, best known for its amenity-rich, master-planned developments, has promised that detailed plans will be released within a few months. But permits would allow 662 residences, 100,000 square feet of commercial space, 1 million square feet of office space, 350 hotel rooms and 150 marina slips.

Thanks to LandMar's reputation, local leaders now have little doubt that this unique swath will ultimately be the jewel of what former Mayor John Delaney dubbed "the billion-dollar mile," referring to riverfront acreage connecting Alltel Stadium and Metropolitan Park.

Across the river on the Southbank, The Peninsula at St. Johns Center has begun presales. American Land Ventures, the project's developer, plans a 36-story tower that will be the tallest residential structure in Northeast Florida, at least temporarily. Retail and offices will take up the first nine stories, so every residential unit will offer expansive skyline and river views.

The Peninsula anchors the mixed-use St. Johns Center development, a $150-million project that will also include a luxury rental apartment complex called The Strand and an office building.

Not to be outdone, South Florida's Krook Douglas Development is seeking approval to build twin 48-story residential towers on either side of the Aetna building in the 800 block of Prudential Drive. The $10-million project, called Riverpointe, would include 550 residential units and 65,000 square feet of retail space.

Another Southbank landmark in the making is Riverplace Development's San Marco Place, a 21-story condominium project that would include 141 units. Ground was broken in January and presales are under way.

Older commercial buildings are also being rehabbed and converted to residential use. The former American Heritage Life Building, for example, was one of several skyscrapers built during the ill-fated Florida land boom of the 1920s. Now renovated and named for its address, 11 E. Forsyth, the historic structure contains 127 moderately priced rental apartments and lofts.

Near San Marco, the former Luther Rice Seminary building is now called Home Street Lofts, offering 12 luxury loft-style condominiums, while on West Adams Street the circa-1911 Lerner Building is being reborn as a mixed-use project with loft apartments as well as office and retail space. Also on West Adams, the circa-1926 Carlington Hotel is being adapted for residential use, offering 100 rental apartments.

And just blocks away, the former Barnett Bank building will be renovated to include 125 luxury loft apartments, a bank and a restaurant on the first floor. The project will be dubbed The Barnett, in honor of the now-extinct financial institution that was founded in Jacksonville.

Similar projects to watch this year include rehabs of the Marble Bank, Bisbee and Florida Life buildings at the corner of Laura and Forsyth streets.

The three historic structures have been bought by the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund, which plans to redevelop the Bisbee and Florida Life buildings for residential use and the Marble Bank, which later housed Florida National Bank, for commercial use.

And there's more. A yet-unnamed mixed-use project is slated to rise on the 42-acre tract where downtown's Southside Generating Station once stood. Jacksonville-based St. Joe Towns and Resorts will build the $40-million complex, which will encompass of 900 condominiums, retail space, restaurants and offices.

At the outskirts of downtown, new residential development is reinvigorating distressed areas.

"Our city is experiencing a rebirth of the historic downtown district," says Dave Crawford, a retired builder who bought a Plaza unit last year. "As a result, living down here has become an exciting proposition."

Mandarin

When Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the anti-slavery classic Uncle Tom's Cabin, settled rural Mandarin in the late 1870s, she was attracted by the area's natural beauty and its suitability for growing citrus. Stowe certainly wouldn't recognize today's Mandarin, which contains some of Northeast Florida's most affluent riverfront developments as well as virtually every kind of business imaginable.

When the native of Litchfield, Conn., moved to Florida in 1866, she purchased the old Laurel Grove plantation near what is now Orange Park. Ironically, the plantation once had been owned by Zephaniah Kingsley, a land baron who made his fortune in the slave trade.

The following year, Stowe purchased 30 acres in Mandarin and built a large home overlooking the river. Assisted by other family members who followed, she became a small-scale citrus grower and established a school to educate former slaves.

Stowe later wrote about her life in Mandarin, which she termed "a tropical paradise," in a book called Palmetto-Leaves. This modest series of sketches, which was widely read in the North, did much to promote Florida's charms and encourage relocation. In fact, Palmetto-Leaves is considered to be among the first, and certainly the most literary, of Florida's ubiquitous promotional brochures.

Despite more than a century of uninterrupted growth, the community's history has not been forgotten. In 1997, the Mandarin Museum & Historical Society completed restoration of the Walter Jones Store and Post Office, a circa-1911 structure that once served as the community's focal point. The building, which is still used for meetings and other functions, also displays artifacts of the region's original inhabitants, the Timucuan Indians.

A new facility for the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society has been completed at the Walter Jones Historical Park, a lush riverfront park that includes the restored Jones family home as well as outbuildings such as barns and storage sheds.

Also generally considered to be part of Mandarin is Loretto, nestled between San Jose Boulevard to the west and Philips Highway to the east. The community, formed by the Diocese of St. Augustine following the Civil War, was clustered around a convent and a school where nuns educated both residents and freed slaves.

Today Loretto is the site of relatively affordable homes, many on cul-de-sacs, as well as parks and nature preserves. Along bustling San Jose Boulevard can be found virtually every kind of restaurant and retail outlet.

Northside

The Northside has been described as Jacksonville" target="_blank">Duval County's last frontier for development. It's a huge, still sparsely populated expanse that boasts stunning scenery and such ecological wonders as Huguenot Memorial Park, Big Talbot and Little Talbot islands and the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve.

Increasingly new subdivisions are cropping up—at least 80 projects in the past two years—spurred in part by plentiful, relatively affordable land and adjacency to Jacksonville International Airport.

As a result, the sprawling Northside, which comprises almost one-quarter of Jacksonville's 850-square-mile area, now rivals the Southside as the busiest sector for development, according to city records. Responding to this rapid growth, in 2003 the city completed a $500,000 study called the North Jacksonville Vision and Master Plan. The plan calls for development of seven village-center-style projects around which growth can cluster.

The first such center will be the River City Marketplace, now under way at I-95 and Duval Road. The complex is slated to include 900 residential units as well as a regional shopping and entertainment center.

Buyers also like the Northside's accessibility. Downtown is an easy drive via the Dames Point Bridge, which opened in 1989. Two major arteries, Florida 9-A and I-95, also run through the heart of the Northside. And the Florida Department of Transportation has proposed some $229 million worth of additional Northside road projects, including a new east-west connector road.

But there's more to the Northside than convenience. So much property abuts lakes and marshes that homebuyers enjoy spectacular views. The St. Johns takes an easterly turn at the Northside's southern boundary, but its tributaries, including the Trout River, wind through the Northside landscape.

And in the Black Hammock area, homebuyers can gaze across the Nassau Sound to all the way to Amelia Island.

Ortega

Ortega, tucked south of downtown Jacksonville on the Westbank, is a quintessential old-money enclave. The neighborhood is a peninsula that boasts stately old homes, a small retail district and two private clubs: the Florida Yacht Club and Timuquana Country Club.

How rich is Ortega? Worth magazine once ranked it among the 50 wealthiest neighborhoods in the country.

Drive along the tree-lined streets and that lofty assessment seems reasonable. The lovely old homes feature an eclectic mixture of architectural styles, and the neighborhood is dotted with parks, including Cortez Park, site of Ortega's annual Fall Festival. A charming shopping district, Ortega Village, boasts a drugstore with an old-fashioned soda fountain.

Another neighborhood claim to fame is the 1920s Ortega River Bridge, one of the oldest functioning drawbridges in the state.

As of last summer, the neighborhood known as "Old Ortega" is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation came about as a result of efforts by the Ortega Preservation Society, which commissioned an architectural survey of the area.

Riverside/Avondale

For a neighborhood steeped in history, Riverside/Avondale is bustling with activity. Posh new condominium and town home projects are taking shape along the St. Johns while architects and remodelers are carefully restoring some of the region's most beautiful old homes.

And with the opening of the $8-million Riverside Market Square retail center in 2002, residents are now able to walk to a new Publix supermarket as well as to restaurants and shops. The project was built on the site of the demolished Riverside Hospital.

Designation of the area as a historic district six years ago signaled the dawning of a new golden age for Riverside/Avondale, which first blossomed at the turn of the century, when captains of industry began building signature showplaces along the St. Johns.

Indeed, this three-mile swath of handsome homes is described as "a laboratory for aspiring architects" by Wayne Wood in his indispensable book, Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage.

In fact, Riverside was started after the Civil War by Northern real estate speculators who sought to transform the vast plantation acreage overlooking the St. Johns into a neighborhood for the elite. By the turn of the century, Riverside Avenue was the city's most elegant residential street.

Its first heyday lasted from about 1895 to 1929, when architects and builders sought to outdo one another with ever more impressive Colonial Revival, Georgian, Queen Anne and Tudor residences. Even proponents of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School found expression in Riverside.

In 1920, a group of investors bought property immediately south of the neighborhood and subdivided it into 720 lots. Avondale, as the development was called, at first boasted primarily Mediterranean-style homes influenced by architect Addison Mizer.

Eventually, the two neighborhoods grew together and are now all but indistinguishable from one another. The Riverside/Avondale Preservation Group keeps careful watch over proposed new projects and renovations to make certain that the integrity of the increasingly popular area is maintained.

Although there's no land available for significant single-family home development, there are a handful of boutique multifamily projects either recently completed or under way.

VillaRiva, for example, is a 12-story, 66-unit luxury condominium development on Riverside Avenue offering every imaginable amenity. Construction is set to be completed in May, and the project is approaching sellout.

"Living in the historic district is a big allure," says developer Bryan Weber of Flagship Communities, LLC. "But here, you can do that and enjoy a maintenance-free lifestyle and all the amenities you'd expect in a luxury condominium."

Also on Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville-based Midland Development Group is building The Residences at 1661 Riverside, a 90-unit town home and loft project that will include 12,800 square feet of retail space and a four-level parking garage. Although construction won't be completed until next year, buyers have been reserving units since last May.

Shopping and dining in Riverside/Avondale is also an adventure. The nearby Five Points retail district is one of the most eclectic in the Southeast, consisting of funky boutiques, ultra-hip nightspots and a musty, New York-style newsstand offering daily papers from around the world and a seemingly infinite assortment of magazines.

Other neighborhood retail areas include St. Johns Avenue in Avondale, the intersection of Park and King streets in Riverside and the intersection of Edgewood Avenue and Post Street in Murray Hill. Riverside/Avondale is also home to several public parks and St. Vincent's Medical Center.

The neighborhood's appeal is reflected by escalating real estate prices. After several years of 6- to 8-percent appreciation, last year the average home price jumped 22 percent.

San Marco

In the 1920s, developer Telfair Stockton and his family vacationed in Venice, Italy, where they visited the elegant Piazza San Marco. Fortunately for Northeast Floridians, Stockton was so enchanted by its quaint beauty that he sought to recreate it along the banks of the St. Johns.

Today, with its graceful homes and welcoming business district, San Marco is one of Jacksonville's neighborhood treasures.

When Stockton first began selling San Marco lots in 1925, he envisioned a community with a Mediterranean motif. That would have been a marked contrast to his successful Avondale project, which was notable for its array of housing styles.

But by the time San Marco began to blossom, public fascination with all things Mediterranean had faded. Although cigar magnates John Swisher and his son, Carl, built two magnificent Mediterranean Revival mansions side by side on River Road, others adopted Tudor, Georgian and Colonial styles.

Likewise in the business district, which had been dubbed San Marco Square despite its triangular shape, a variety of architectural styles emerged. For example, the 1930s Art Deco facade of the San Marco Theater and the neighboring Little Theater were decidedly avant-garde for the time.

San Marco also encompasses some of Jacksonville's most popular eateries, including romantic Matthew's, the city's only four-star, four-diamond restaurant. Newcomer Daniel's is making a name for itself with tableside preparation of classic French dishes, while b.b.'s lures sweet-toothed patrons with obscenely proportioned desserts. Cafe Carmon offers casual outdoor dining, and more adventurous diners swear by Pom's Thai Bistro, where sea bass in green curry sauce is a favorite.

Several years ago, San Marco merchants, private donors and the city of Jacksonville spent more than $200,000 on a new fountain flanked by carved lions for the small triangular park at the center of San Marco Square.

More recently, the city has begun major improvements to Hendricks Avenue, the somewhat less upscale commercial corridor that provides an entry point to San Marco Square from the west. Utility lines will be buried, historic lighting will be installed and trees will be planted. Likewise, the San Marco branch library has doubled in size.

Springfield

Along Springfield's 12-block-long Main Street, local trendsetters dine and drink at Boomtown while enthusiastic crowds listen to live jazz at the Epicurean Market. At Henrietta's, there's a permanent art gallery and a theater where offbeat films are screened.

Springfield, north of downtown's central business district, is emerging as the city's new arts hub as well as a residential neighborhood where the future is bright and home values are likely to rise as gentrification takes hold.

Still, few would have thought such revitalization was likely just a decade ago. This once prosperous expanse of 1,800 stately homes and its 22-block commercial district had become a slum, and there was little reason to believe that change was in the offing.

But Springfield through the years has been resilient. Today, those who were savvy enough to buy before the comeback gained momentum have seen their properties double and triple in value. In fact, according to the Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council, more than one-third of the historic neighborhood's homes have now been renovated or restored.

City government, private investors and individual homeowners, assisted by civic organizations such as SPAR, are ensuring Springfield's future by resurrecting its past.

Last year the city rebuilt Main Street between First and Fourth streets, installing a tree-filled median with antique-style street lamps and brick crosswalks. Funding for the project was provided through the Better Jacksonville Plan, which voters approved in 2000 with a half-cent sales tax hike for infrastructure and other improvements.

Now, thanks to a $2.5-million allocation from the state Department of Transportation, the Main Street project will be continued through 12th Street. The work will likely take at least a year to complete, according to city officials, but when it's done the neighborhood's entire primary thoroughfare will have been transformed into a beautiful, landscaped boulevard.

Partly as a ripple effect of the Main Street project, 80,000 square feet of retail and condominium space are slated for construction on the southeast, northeast and northwest corners of Eighth and Pearl streets. And more new businesses are expected to move into now vacant Main Street storefronts as road improvements are completed.

On the residential side, private investors have spent some $20 million over the past year buying and renovating property in Springfield. SRG Homes and Neighborhoods, for example, has bought 150 mostly contiguous lots on which they are building new but historically correct homes, many with double-deck front porches, columns and trim-work similar to the century-old homes next door or across the street.

The Cesery Companies, based in San Marco, is planning an $8-million retail and condominium complex at the corner of Main and Third streets, where a used car lot now sits. The project, to be called the Lofts at Third & Main, offers views of the Jacksonville skyline.

And Symbiosis Investments is spending $17 million on a yet-unnamed retail, office and loft complex at three corners of Eighth and Pearl streets, just a few blocks from Shands Jacksonville.

This recent activity marks the latest and most hopeful chapter in Springfield's rollercoaster history. First settled in the 1820s, the subdivision of Springfield was platted in 1882. But it came into its own following the Great Fire of 1901, which wiped out much of downtown Jacksonville but spared Springfield thanks to Hogan's Creek, which acted as a natural firebreak.

Many downtown dwellers who had been burned out of their homes sought to rebuild their lives in Springfield. And because many of the relocators were well-to-do, the homes they built reflected an array of architectural styles, including Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School.

In fact, one of Springfield's most notable buildings is Main Street's Klutho Apartments, designed and built in 1913 by architect Henry J. Klutho, a Wright disciple. The building has been restored largely through the efforts of developer David Lee, whose one-year volunteer commitment to the project stretched into five years.

But beginning in the 1950s, Springfield, like other urban neighborhoods, fell victim to the growing popularity of suburbs. Neglected homes were purchased by slumlords, crime increased and blight set in.

"I think we have a critical mass of buyers now who are interested in living downtown," says Myrtice Craig of Prudential Network Realty. "They love these old homes and they love the atmosphere. They don't have preconceived ideas based on what Springfield has been. They see it for what it can be."

An opportune time to see Springfield at its most appealing is during the neighborhood's annual holiday home tour, during which horse-drawn carriages rumble past restored homes.

Back in the 1980s, say organizers, police cars followed the carriages to offer protection to attendees. That such drastic measures are no longer thought necessary speaks volumes about how far Springfield has come.

Southside

Want to see a movie, grab dinner or go shopping? If so, you're likely to end up on the Southside, which is generally considered to lie north of Butler Boulevard, south of Atlantic Boulevard, east of University Boulevard and west of St. Johns Bluff Road.

The Cinemark Tinseltown, a movie megacomplex with huge screens and comfy, stadium-style seating, has established itself as one of the most popular draws in Northeast Florida, bringing crowds to Southside Boulevard to catch a flick and enjoy the nightlife.

New on the Southside is The St. Johns Town Center, an open-air mall at Butler Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road. Ben Carter Properties of Atlanta and Simon Property Group of Indianapolis developed the 1.5-million-square-foot shopping plaza, which opened in March. Among the tenants are Dillard's, Dick's Sporting Goods, The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Maggiano's Little Italy, Sephora, Old Navy, Staples, Design of the Interior, Urban Outfitters, J. Crew, Guess, Ann Taylor Loft and Sharper Image.

Not surprisingly, this burgeoning where-the-action-is ambience has kicked the Southside's residential appeal up a notch, especially for younger people, many of whom work at nearby office parks. In fact, about 27 percent of Southside residents are between the ages of 25 and 34.

Among these buyers, condominiums are particularly hot, with multifamily offerings ranging from affordable apartment conversions to upscale, amenity-rich new construction.

Also enhancing the Southside's appeal to young people is the presence of the University of North Florida and Florida Community College of Jacksonville South Campus.

But the Southside also encompasses plenty of old and new single-family developments in a variety of price ranges. You can spend $1 million for a home in Deerwood Country Club, first developed 30 years ago, or you can pick up a new home from $300,000 and up in subdivisions such as Hampton Park.

Aiding the Southside traffic situation will be the June opening of a new interchange connecting I-95 and I-295 with the Florida 9A beltway.

Westside

Perhaps Jacksonville's most affordable housing can be found on the Westside, a vast expanse that encompasses Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Herlong Airport as well as dozens of older subdivisions and shopping centers.

In addition to numerous neighborhoods, the Westside includes four small incorporated cities: Baldwin, Marietta, Maxville and Whitehouse.

Much of the land surrounding these cities remains rural, offering opportunities for hunting, boating and fishing. Baldwin, in fact, marks the terminus of the 14.5-mile Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail, which runs between Imeson Road and C.R. 121. The trail follows abandoned railroad lines and is frequented by cyclists, inline skaters, walkers and horseback riders.

Another Westside treasure is 509-acre Westside Regional Park, with a nature center, outdoor classrooms, picnic areas, biking trails and an elevated platform from which to view the expansive wetlands.

Much of the commercial development is in the Wesconnett neighborhood, particularly along Blanding Boulevard, Timuquana Road and 103rd Street. The city's only remaining drive-in, Playtime Family Drive-In and Flea Market, is on Blanding Boulevard.

Some residents have complained that the Westside receives short shrift from the city when it comes to encouraging business growth, which they say disproportionately benefits the Southside. However, a new Sleiman Enterprises project may soften that view.

The company plans to redevelop the former St. Johns Theatre site near Avondale into a two-building retail center flanking both sides of St. Johns Avenue along Roosevelt Boulevard. The 40,000-square-foot project, called Roosevelt Plaza, will feature two restaurants and seven or eight stores.

More good news for the Westside: Under the Better Jacksonville Plan, Blanding Boulevard is being widened and improvements are slated for several area parks. In Ringhaver Park, for example, lighting has been installed at the ball fields and five soccer fields are planned. In the Lake Shore area, $2.9 million have been allocated to alleviate drainage problems.

Many established Westside neighborhoods, such as Jacksonville Heights, Cedar Hills and Confederate Point, were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Resales here can often be found priced in the $70s and $80s, making them attractive locations for first-time buyers. New subdivisions are popping up as well, particularly in southwest Jacksonville along Argyle Forest Boulevard and Old Middleburg Road.

Another Westside hot spot should be the site of the former Cecil Field Naval Air Station, which was closed by the federal government in 1999. The 17,000-acre tract, now owned by the city and renamed Cecil Commerce Center, will undergo $120 million in infrastructure improvements and will be developed as an industrial park.

A $37-million equestrian center opened last March and an adjacent 1.2-million-square-foot regional shopping center is under construction.