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A Jacksonville developer sees medical and retail as a potent combination spurring growth throughout the First Coast.
David Ergisi, president and CEO at Cross Regions Group, was working in automotive sales when a developer told him about commercial real estate. Ergisi completed his first development, Tyler Plaza in Yulee, in 2005.
"I had heard, once you do one, you don't stop," Ergisi said. "I continued doing my day job ... I was able to pre-lease it before we finished construction."
Using his experiences from the Great Recession and his work as a broker at Colliers, he formed Cross Regions Group about eight years ago. His first development for Cross Regions was upscale health food store, Diane's Marketplace, in St. Augustine.
"If the project didn't enhance or better the area, then I wasn't going to it," he said.
Ergisi's major pivot was toward medical retail, where he worked with medical offices and surgical facilities. Now, Cross Regions Group has large medical retail works in development in Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
Located on Country Road 210, The Fountains at St. Johns has 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and medical/office space. He's targeting 2028 for the full completion of the 100-acre development.
"It provides medical services to those people, and it provides volume and business opportunities for that small business owner that's potentially going in the coffee shop or a restaurant," Ergisi said.
Restaurant space currently under construction includes Salsa Mexican Restaurant, Jax Fish Fry, Siena Italian Restaurant, JaxSpice, Dolly Llama and several office users. A 12,000-square-foot nursing training facility for Jacksonville University is also in the works. Students can benefit from the proximity to Ascension and other medical office tenants, he said.
"Now, (students) have a great education plan, they have a job ready for them when they graduate and it all happens in the Fountains project," Ergisi said. "That was very intriguing to me."
On 33 acres of the northern portion of the property is Ascension St. Vincent’s - St. Johns County, which in 2022 opened a 150,000-square-foot hospital and 82,500-square-foot medical office building. Ascension has an additional 5.59 acres for further expansion, Ergisi said, and could expand the hospital facility on the site.
A 160-room Home 2 Suites by Hilton, 174 luxury apartments with 30,000 square feet of retail on first floor, 276 apartments from Madison Capital, and a 13,000-square-foot facility for Chappell Schools are planned for the eastern portion of Fountains. It will also feature a town square with 35,000 square feet of retail and restaurants.
Cross Region Group's work also extends to downtown Jacksonville with the Duval Station with 100,000 square feet of retail space, professional and medical offices on nine acres located at North Main Street and Max Leggett Parkway. The first phase of construction includes a 12,000-square-foot medical office building leased by Millennium Physician Group, and the development will include multiple medical offices and a laboratory. The second phase of construction includes a Chappell Schools location.
Ergisi said space remains for retailers and those discussions are underway. Duval Station's estimated completion is 2028.
Ergisi's background and family led to the establishment of non-profit Cross Regions Disaster Relief Fund Inc. in the wake of a catastrophic earthquake striking Turkey earlier this year.
He was born in Turkey and has several family members living in Maraş, Turkey, which was devastated by February's earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. Donations can be made at www.crossregionsrelief.com.
"I was just dying to do something. I was constantly calling. I started with with four family members and I told them to pick four people in their community who aren't related to me," Ergisi said.
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