Behind the homes on Cherry Street stands a 29-foot water tank. People around Neptune Beach call it the "big green monster." A developer put it up in December 2022 for one reason. The smaller-format Publix in the former Kmart plaza needed enough water pressure to run its sprinklers.
That tank is the best way to understand Town Center West, TriBridge Residential's plan for the vacant Kmart at 500 Atlantic Blvd. The hotel, the restaurants and the shops get the headlines. The project still has to answer the same question the Publix faced in 2022: how a big building on this corner gets enough water to fight a fire. How that gets solved decides whether the green monster comes down, stays put, or gets a neighbor.
What would replace the Kmart
The building has been empty since the Kmart closed in July 2016. According to the Jax Daily Record's Oct. 26 report, the current plan tears down the Kmart section of the strip mall and builds three things in its place:
- A boutique hotel with 150 rooms, three stories tall, on the south side of the property with a drop-off area
- Two restaurant spaces, both one story, on either side of the drive near the hotel
- Two office and retail buildings, two stories each, running north and south
Cars would enter down the middle with the hotel straight ahead. Nothing on the site would go above 35 feet. The application covers a 133,580-square-foot hotel and about 90,000 square feet of shopping center space with shared parking. TriBridge's attorney, Steve Diebenow, told the Daily Record the project should cost more than $100 million.
Nobody has signed on as a tenant yet. The Daily Record reports that no hotel brand has been named and no restaurant has been picked. Diebenow told the paper, "The community is advocating for a steak restaurant, so I have a feeling that that will be at the top of their target list, but there's no one that's been identified."
The operator, at least, is known. At a community meeting in late September, TriBridge managing partner Steve Broome said Sage Hospitality Group would run the hotel, the Beach Gazette reported. Sage already runs Dune House in Atlantic Beach. The name "Town Center West" is meant to point hotel guests toward the shops and restaurants of Beaches Town Center, Diebenow told the meeting.
Neptune Beach Mayor Cori Bylund told the Jax Daily Record, "I think that this is the biggest development for Neptune Beach in decades, and it's a tremendous opportunity for the city to have this parcel developed in a responsible way."
Ten years of plans that didn't happen
The skepticism around this corner has a history. Every earlier plan for it stalled.
- 2017: A concept for 313 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail. The apartment count later dropped to 230, then 199.
- July 2018: TriBridge proposed 175 apartments, up to 107,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, a 74-room boutique hotel and a public parking garage.
- September 2019: TriBridge and TLM Realty announced Saltwater Row. Phase one was 30,000 square feet of retail and a 44-room boutique hotel. Phase two was a 150-room hotel.
- Along the way: An effort to bring in a Walmart died, Diebenow told the Community Development Board on Oct. 21.
TriBridge bought the property through TBR Neptune Owner LLC in 2019. The 2026 version drops apartments altogether. It keeps the 150-room hotel from the second phase of Saltwater Row and moves it to the front of the line. Over the summer, the team showed the City Council three options: another big-box store, a hotel with townhomes, or all residential. The current plan blends those after talks with city staff, council members and residents.
Diebenow also told the board the site is already zoned for these uses. That leaves the engineering as the hard part.
The water problem under the whole plan
The Beach Gazette called water pressure for fire suppression "a chief concern" among the crowd that filled Neptune House in Jarboe Park on Sept. 29. A three-story hotel needs that pressure to meet state standards, and the corner has struggled to supply it. The green monster is the proof.
As Diebenow laid it out to the Gazette, TriBridge has three possible paths:
- Neptune Beach water, if the city can deliver the pressure state standards call for
- A fire-only connection to Atlantic Beach's water supply. Atlantic Beach has already said no once. TriBridge plans to ask again after Neptune Beach approves the project.
- Another water tank, if both of the first two fall through. Diebenow stressed that nothing is final.
He framed the second request this way: "Our plan when we get this plan approved by Neptune Beach, we plan to reapproach Atlantic Beach. We'd love for you to come with us."
Broome then linked the hotel's water to the tank behind Cherry Street:
"There is a path toward getting rid of the green monster. If water pressure becomes available, [the city of Neptune Beach] has to tap in and get rid of the green monster."
For anyone who looks at that tank every day, the hotel's water solution decides a lot. If Neptune Beach or Atlantic Beach supplies the pressure, the existing tank has a way out. If neither does, the fallback could put a second tank on the same block.
Sewer is the other open question. Diebenow said the existing lift station connection may not be big enough, and the team is looking at other routes to the city's wastewater treatment plant. "For now, we know the wastewater treatment plant can handle 88,000 gallons a day. This application generates 44,000 gallons a day, so half as much, but how it gets there is still under conversation," he said, according to the Gazette.
Parking, light and the homes next door
The hotel sits on the south side of the property, which backs up to the Neptune by the Sea neighborhood. People at the September meeting worried about light from third-floor rooms facing nearby homes. Light pollution came up again at the Oct. 21 board hearing. The development team says it will do a light study and share a lighting plan with residents.
On density, Diebenow told the room the unit count is unlikely to shrink: "There is a point at which if you don't have enough units, you don't have a viable product."
Parking is where the city and the developer disagree on the numbers. As of the late-September meeting, the two counts looked like this:
| City staff count | TriBridge's analysis | |
|---|---|---|
| Spaces required | 463 | Says it meets code |
| Spaces on site | About 148 north, 138 south | Not itemized |
| Shared spaces from Publix | About 100 | Included |
| Bottom line | About 63 short | 105 spaces above the requirement |
Community Development Director Heather Whitmore walked through the city's math at the meeting. Diebenow pushed back with "Let's see if the council agrees with us." City code allows shared off-site parking and valet, the same kind of setup The Local and other restaurants already use.
Several residents asked about a parking garage. Broome said the project doesn't create enough demand to need one. The 2018 plan for this same site did include a public garage.
What the board is actually deciding
The project needs a preliminary development plan approval, DP26-05, plus two variances, according to the Oct. 21 Community Development Board agenda:
- V26-08 asks for relief from the 60,000-square-foot cap on building area.
- V26-09 asks to allow 45% building frontage where the code requires 70%.
The Oct. 21 packet carried no staff report on these items. It says, "NO STAFF REPORT, APPLICANT TO ADDRESS THE BOARD." As of this week, the project is still pending.
Dates on the calendar
Back in September, Community Development Board member Tony Mazzola told the crowd, "This is going to happen very quick." The schedule has slipped since then. The earlier plan had council hearings on Nov. 2 and Nov. 16. The latest Daily Record report says the project goes back to the Community Development Board in November and on to the City Council in December.
- Nov. 18, 2026: The next Community Development Board meeting, moved for Veterans Day, per the Oct. 21 agenda. Meetings are held in City Council Chambers at 116 First St.
- December 2026: City Council review. The first regular council meeting on the city's December calendar is Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.
- After approval: About 9 to 12 months of design and permitting before construction, Diebenow told the Daily Record. "They want it to go as soon as possible," he said.
The lighting plan and the water-pressure answer are the two things residents near Cherry Street and Neptune by the Sea can watch for as the project moves toward those hearings.
If you live near the old Kmart and want to talk through what Town Center West could mean for your plans, the team at Michael Wright is happy to walk through it with you, with no pressure and on your timeline. Contact Us.
