A new site permit under review by the City of Jacksonville shows Crate & Barrel planned for 10274 Buckhead Branch Drive at St. Johns Town Center, the exact parcel where the bowling-and-bistro chain Pinstripes was supposed to open before its parent company collapsed into bankruptcy. The furniture and home decor retailer would take over a lot that has already been cleared once for one failed project, with utility demolition work still part of the current filing.
The permit identifies England-Thims & Miller Inc. as civil engineer on a demolition exhibit labeled “SJTC – Crate & Barrel,” and covers removal of existing utilities at the site.
How Pinstripes' Bankruptcy Left the Lot Empty
The site had been the former home of a West Elm furniture store, which was approved for demolition in May 2024 to make way for Pinstripes, a chain planning an indoor bowling alley, restaurant and entertainment center there. Architectural plans prepared for Pinstripes by RDL Architects envisioned a two-story venue with white brick and concrete veneer panels on the cleared footprint, part of what was pitched as an $8 million project. The city issued a site-work permit for that Pinstripes build in March 2025, even as the broader construction permit, originally filed in August 2024, had already been voided by the city earlier that same month.
Those plans unraveled when Pinstripes Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2025 and, per court filings, abandoned the Jacksonville property while seeking approval to cancel leases on 14 properties nationwide. According to ElevenFlo, the company converted that filing into a Chapter 7 liquidation in November 2025 after a Delaware court approved a $15 million credit bid sale of its operating assets to lender affiliate SilverStrike LLC. Pinstripes had gone public via a SPAC merger in late 2023 before the bankruptcy unwound its Jacksonville ambitions along with locations elsewhere.
A Retail Powerhouse Absorbs Another Cancelled Project
St. Johns Town Center sits at the intersection of Northwest Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295.
A Crate & Barrel arrival would add to the center's retail mix. That concentration traces back to the center's Phase 4 expansion, originally designed across 41.02 acres and once envisioned to include a 600-seat boutique movie theater, a 118-room hotel, a multistory Restoration Hardware building and an additional retail building, per WJCT News. The phase included four proposed parcels.
Crate & Barrel's Jacksonville Expansion
The planned Jacksonville store would add to a retail corridor already seeing turnover, with Paris Baguette opening a 2,552-square-foot flagship bakery-café at 4624 Town Crossing Drive in early 2026, a launching pad for further regional expansion that Hoodline previously covered.
A Submarket Still Filling In
Luxury apparel brand Marc Jacobs opened a boutique at 4812 River City Drive in July 2025, adjacent to Brooks Brothers.
Nearby, Ashco Centers is developing a separate project called Town Center II at 4907 Big Island Drive on a site that replaced a demolished former Wendy's, with lighting retailer Visual Comfort & Co. and patio furniture seller Belamo both planning 2026 openings there. Exactly how large Crate & Barrel's eventual building will be, and when it might open, remains unclear from the current city filings, which focus on site clearance and utility demolition rather than construction specifics.
