The Changing Face of 5 Points

Words & photos by Ambar Ramirez

It’s Aug. 19, 2024 and while doom-scrolling on Instagram you pause on an image the local bottle shop Alewife posted. The caption begins with “Ok. Here we go. **takes a deep breath**,”  and without reading the rest, you know you’re about to read another goodbye post from a beloved spot on the historic strip. 

John C. Maxwell, an American author and leadership authority, once said, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional,” and for 5 Points, change has always been a part of its story. Long before it became the historic district we know today, in the 1860s 5 Points was part of Dell’s Bluff Plantation, a plot of land dedicated to cultivating sea island cotton. The plantation was sold for $10,000 in gold to pave the way for the area’s development. Isolated from other parts of the city, it remained largely inaccessible until 1886, when a mule-drawn streetcar finally extended to the area. Just a year later, this section of Riverside was annexed into the City of Jacksonville.

The area remained primarily residential in the early 19th century, but after the Great Fire of 1901 like a phoenix rising from its ashes, 5 Points experienced extreme growth. During the golden era of the 1920s, residents in the area began to sell or rent property for commercial development and shops began to pop up along Park Street. Not only did it become a place for shoppers to purchase everyday items, but it also became Jacksonville’s most vivid pedestrian-friendly area. It was also during this time that the Riverside Theatre— later 5 Points Theatre, a nightclub and Sun Ray Cinema—opened to the public. It was the first Florida theater to show “talkies” and arguably set 5 Points’ apart from other strip malls. By the 1970s, the area leaned into the hippie trend and became a go-to spot for young shoppers. 

Despite 5 Points experiencing more stops and turns than the star-shaped intersection it’s named after, one constant that the neighborhood has prided itself on is its dedication to “keepin’ it local.” That is, until recent months when it seems more local shops are closing and out-of-state buyers are occupying the vacant spaces. Is something more sinister happening behind the scenes or is this a classic case of history repeating itself?

In the past year or two, businesses that have been part of the community for over 30 years have begun to close their doors indefinitely. Wall Street Deli and Lounge, a staple on the historic strip for three decades, ended its lease after ServStar purchased the building, along with two other businesses, for $2 million in 2023. Around the same time, long-time Edge City owner and Riverside legend Gunnel Humphrey sold the much loved shop to new management after running it since 1976. Despite these closures and changes, locals still found solace in Sun-Ray Cinema, a cultural anchor amidst the upheaval.

However, when news broke that the nearly 100-year-old theater would show its last screening on July 6—following its purchase by a Georgia-based developer—the community erupted in protest. Petitions were quickly drafted and signed, and social media was flooded with “Save Sun-Ray” posts. Despite these efforts, nothing could stop the inevitable. The rising rent prices made it impossible for the two-screen theater to stay afloat.

Mixed Fillings, a local pie shop that had only recently opened on Park Street, shortly followed suit. Just over a year after opening, the shop announced the end of its chapter on the historic strip. Corner Taco, located just around the corner from Hawkers, closed its doors after 10 years of business. And now Alewife is joining the long thread of businesses closing.

The local craft beer bottle shop and tasting room first opened in Five Points in March 2014 with co-owner Kelly Pickard and her partner at the helm. Ironically though, 10 years ago Alewife faced what many new businesses and developers are now encountering — skeptical looks and disgruntled posts from the community.

“I think that the current fear and the fear of other community members and perhaps some business owners is that you’re starting to see rental rates that are going to maybe keep some small business owners from being able to enter the game. When you start to see those kinds of rates, it can only be the sort of established businesses that have been successful in other parts of the state or other parts of the southeastern region that you’re trying to bring in. And so I think that there’s a fear of losing local identity,” Pickard shared. “But also, I mean, I know when we came in 10 years ago, there was a fear from community members because we were previously from D.C. and even though we had both been born and raised in Florida, I remember seeing some comments. I like to think that we proved wrong in that area. We’re a space for the community.” 

Alewife quickly put any doubts to rest with its unique business model, welcoming atmosphere and dedication to keeping things local. Over the past decade, the vibrant bottle shop became a part of the community, offering a space for people to learn about beer and connect with others. So when Alewife announced that it would not be renewing its lease after 10 years, the community’s reaction resembled the grief felt after losing a loved one. People were saddened to see yet another local staple go.

“When we started this business and opened it, you know, if you go back and look at our business plan and all of our goals, it was around being a well-known craft [beer] spot… And in our mind it was for everyone, but specifically, women having been women in the craft beer industry and not always having felt welcomed. We set out to be a spot that was not pretentious and not intimidating but was knowledgeable. So I think that’s what sort of opened the door for this space to be a community station,” Pickard said. “And we started to see, you know, a lot of family gatherings here and, you know, people would come here for celebrations, for their kids’ birthdays or milestones or proposals, all of that kind of stuff. And then as we had been open for a while and as the politics started to to change a little bit, we sort of realized it was more and more important to be sort of visible and vocal. We never wanted to put out there necessarily that, oh, you know, we’re an LGBTQ-owned establishment. It was something that we are proud of, but we didn’t really think it mattered until it did, until it started to be something that we had kind of taken for granted, that there are spaces where people would feel safe and as the rhetoric sort of turned up within Florida, you know, I think our willingness to just be vocal and visible became more and more important the longer that we were open. At the end of the day, as we started to have conversations about what it meant to us to have this bar, I couldn’t have put it in a business plan that I hope this place became a space for people to come in and feel inherently safe and feel cared for and at the end of the day, the fact that we created that is, I mean, there’s no bigger compliment that we can get and all the other craft beer stuff kind of it’s not as big of a deal anymore. I mean, it’s authentically who we are, but the fact that we could create that space means a lot.”

So, what—or who—is driving these businesses out of the historic strip? A common theme running through these recent closures is rising rents and the influx of out-of-state buyers. Is 5 Points the next target in the ongoing wave of gentrification sweeping through the city? 

“One of the concerns we’re seeing in 5 Points now is sort of this transition of building ownership from, you know, whether it’s the 5 Points Theater building, not just Sun-Ray, but that whole building and our building were both owned by local Jacksonville residents. So whether it was just more on their plate but didn’t want to take on the stress and other things related to ownership and have chosen to sell,” Pickard said. “And both of these buildings were sold to entities outside of the state of Florida. I think the fear and unease that some people feel is the uncertainty of maybe ownership groups that are invested in the economic health of the city, but perhaps not necessarily the identity of the city.”

Urban Division, a subgroup of Colliers, is a local development and commercial real-estate team that has been behind some of the most recent purchases and sales in 5 Points and surrounding historic neighborhoods. In a 2018 Florida Times Union article, “In Five Points, Is Fancy Replacing Funky?” Urban Division’s Matthew Clark said,“‘We’ve found that a lot of restaurants and retailers want to invest in the space, and it’s been great,’ he said. ‘They’re really helping to re-gentrify the neighborhood.’” A few of Urban Division’s projects in Five Points are Alewife, Hoptinger and Crane Ramen, which is also closed. “Folio” reached out to Clark for a comment on the recent neighborhood changes and did not receive a response.

 “I try to not be so subjective about it because I think whether it’s good or bad is going to be dependent on the person that’s looking at the development. Actively, from my perspective, what we have witnessed, you know, operating is maybe a transition to 5 Points being more of a later night crowd,” Pickard shared. “I feel like over the years we’ve seen a little bit of a decrease in retail establishments and more into kind of the heavy volume restaurant bar model.”