JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sporting Club Jacksonville, United Soccer League’s Northeast Florida expansion franchise, made forward steps Thursday to bring a soccer team to the city.
The now-declined Regency Square Mall in the Arlington community is one of 55 locations to be a potential contender to house a new stadium facility.
If selected, the stadium would be located at the former Sears property.
District 1 councilmember Ken Amaro said he is open to the revitalization of the dilapidated mall that faces multiple code violation fines and lawsuits.
“The Arlington community is ready for that eyesore to disappear from the horizon. The future of that location is wide open and ready for transformative development, and as the district councilman so am I,” he told News4JAX.
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Sporting Jax CEO Steve Livingstone detailed when the team expects movement on the stadium deal.
“Hopefully before the summer. Hopefully sometime in the spring,” Livingstone said. “Again we’ve been looking at 55 different locations around Northeast Florida. We’ve narrowed it down to a few, and we’re putting some final touches on that. The good thing is it will be one location but we’re not in a position to say where that is.”
Shanti Monroe has lived in Jacksonville since 2006. She remembers what the property used to be.
“A lot of the teenagers used to come here,” she said. “I actually used to work at the Dillard’s right there, before it became a clearance Dillard’s, and it was very popular. It was very busy.”
Monroe would welcome new life into the area, including that potential soccer stadium.
“I have four kids, and I’m in the area a lot. My mom lives over here. I think that this is a good spot,” Monroe said. “It’s close to downtown, so it’s pretty much the center of Jacksonville, between the beaches and Arlington area. So I think I will be over here a lot to buy tickets.”
There’s still a lot of unknown about where the stadium will be, but the team is hoping to start in the new stadium in the 2026 or 2027 season.