The Downtown Investment Authority seeks to attract investment, facilitate job creation and increase residential density through capital investment, planning, marketing, and public-private partnerships including the provision of incentives.
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Downtown Development Update Part I: Projects rising
The effort to revitalize Downtown Jacksonville yielded successes in late 2024 and early 2025 in the form of project completions, new construction starts and progress at worksites on the Northbank and Southbank.
Downtown visitors can see crane booms in the air and heavy equipment on the ground from the Sports and Entertainment District to Brooklyn and spaces in-between, including the historic core.
At the same time, headwinds emerged as Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced plans to move hundreds of workers from Downtown to South Jacksonville, adding to an office vacancy listed by Downtown Vision Inc. at 28% at year-end 2024.
Then came uncertainty over the fate of federal offices Downtown as the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency announced possible closures of office buildings and termination of leases.
Mayor Donna Deegan said her administration was watching the situation closely and was preparing to find offices Downtown for any displaced federal employees.
“Obviously, we want to encourage as many people to be Downtown as possible,” she said.
Here is an update on some of Downtown’s public and private projects.
Four Seasons Hotel and One Shipyards Place
Topping-off was Jan. 17 for One Shipyards Place, the six-story office building under construction by Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments across Gator Bowl Boulevard from EverBank Stadium.
Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2026.
The 10-story Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences building is expected to top off this year and a signature restaurant is in review for the top floor.
Also, work is nearing completion on a bulkhead for the new marina, followed by demolition of the old marina.
The cost for the vertical construction of both structures totals $254.3 million, growing to almost $260 million with the marina support project.
Stadium of the Future
Demolition began in March on EverBank Stadium’s pedestrian bridges, escalators and staircases as the process to transform the facility into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Stadium of the Future progressed.
The $1.4 billion stadium project is on a timeline for completion in August 2028, with the team playing in EverBank at a reduced capacity in 2025 and 2026 before playing in Orlando or Gainesville in 2027.
Union Terminal Warehouse
The historic warehouse building reopened March 6 as a $73 million mixed-use redevelopment with mixed-income housing, offices and retail units.
Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures spent more than six years bringing the 361,169-square-foot building back to life.
The building, constructed in 1913, is at 700 E. Union St.
Decca Live
After a $3.31 million renovation, the Decca Live music and dance venue at 323 E. Bay St. held a grand opening Jan. 31.
The renovated building features a ground-floor dance floor and bar, a second-floor wraparound walkway and bar, and a rooftop bar.
Former JEA headquarters
In February, JEA issued a request for proposal seeking bids for its former headquarters campus.
The property includes the 19-story office tower at 21 W. Church St., the six-story customer service center and the Adair Building parking garage with street-level retail space.
The selection criteria for the RFP hint at possible office-to-residential use of the property, saying respondents will be rated based partly on economic benefits of their proposals on such factors as capital investment, job creation and housing units.
Artea apartments
A grand opening was held March 11 for the Artea transit-oriented apartment complex near the Kings Avenue parking garage on the Southbank.
The $96.9 million multifamily property includes studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, a 425-space parking garage, a swimming pool and other amenities.
Lofts at Cathedral
A ribbon-cutting was held in December 2024 for the $26 million 120-unit multifamily property at 325 and 327 E. Duval St. The project included a $5.45 million renovation of the YWCA building, which was built in 1949.
RiversEdge
The $693 million RiversEdge mixed-use development continues to take shape, with DIA CEO Lori Boyer reporting that the riverwalk and some of the more than 4 acres of public parks are expected to be completed as soon as April.
Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers construction began vertical construction on town homes in the development in 2024, and some are now on the market.
RiversEdge is on the former JEA Southside Generating Station power plant site on the Southbank.
Gateway Jax
Construction is underway on Gateway Jax’s first project, the seven-story Block N11 mixed-use building in the block bordered by Pearl, Julia, Ashley and Church streets.
Principal developer Bryan Moll says work will begin in the coming months on two other buildings.
Among other Gateway Jax news, the development group purchased the block containing the Ambassador Hotel and Central National Bank, and announced plans to redevelop Downtown’s NoCo Center with a full-service grocery store.
The Block N11 building is the first tower under construction in the historic core since the new JEA headquarters tower, a private project that was completed in 2023 with the intent of having the city-owned utility as a tenant.
UF campus/Riverfront Plaza
The University of Florida announced in December 2024 that it had chosen LaVilla as the site of its proposed graduate center campus in Jacksonville, setting into motion a plan for the city to provide five properties for the site.
Among them, the city is proposing to swap a 1-acre development pad at Riverfront Plaza and an option on an adjacent parking lot to Gateway Jax, the owner of the Interline Brands Inc. building at 801 W. Bay St., for use by UF.
City Council member Ron Salem has proposed an alternative plan to buy the building outright.
Riverfront Plaza park
Jacksonville’s Haskell design and construction firm continues work on the first phase of plans to transform the site of the demolished Jacksonville Landing into a park.
The initial $32.5 million phase calls for such features as a pavilion building with a rooftop playground, a flexible event lawn and space connecting the plaza with the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts.
By Ric Anderson, Reporter
Jacksonville Daily Record
Downtown Development Update Part II: Cranes up, work in sight
The effort to revitalize Downtown Jacksonville yielded successes in late 2024 and early 2025 in the form of project completions, new construction starts and progress at worksites on the Northbank and Southbank.
Here is an update on some of Downtown’s public and private projects. Part I of this series is here
One Riverside/Whole Foods
Groundwork is underway on the site of the Whole Foods grocery market planned as part of the $250 million mixed-use project under construction by TriBridge and Fuqua Development at 1 Riverside Ave.
Work continues on the $59.9 million, 225-apartment first phase of the project, with completion expected in September.
McCoys Creek Outfall
The city posts a fall 2025 estimated completion date on work to improve McCoys Creek, which for decades ran beneath the Florida Times-Union building at 1 Riverside Ave.
The current construction, which comes with a cost estimate of $66.9 million, includes “daylighting” the creek by rerouting it into an open-air space between the One Riverside project and railroad tracks, widening and deepening the creek, building a new pedestrian bridge providing access to a future riverfront park and rebuilding the Riverwalk overpass.
The T-U buildings were demolished.
Jones Bros. Furniture Co.
The city issued permits in December 2024 for the adaptive reuse of the seven-story building at 420 N. Hogan St.
Plans call for a $9 million, 38,836-square-foot build-out of the 110-year-old building, which Corner Lot Development Group has been working to revive since 2018.
The June
Britt Morgan-Saks, founder of The June private club, says the venture has attracted 150 founding members, who are investors.
The city approved permits in February for the $6.4 million build-out of the club in the historic Federal Reserve Building at 424 N. Hogan St.
Pratt Funeral Home
Work is underway to bring the 110-year-old funeral home at 525 W. Beaver St. back to life as an Airbnb and restaurant
The city issued a permit in November 2023 for the adaptive reuse.
City Council approved a $1.25 million forgivable loan for the project in May 2023.
Rise Doro
Work began anew on the apartment building at 960 E. Adams St. in early 2025, about a year after the structure was heavily damaged by fire.
In September 2024, the Jacksonville City Council approved a $15.45 million incentives package to rebuild the complex, which comprises five floors of wood-frame construction built atop a two-story concrete base and around a seven-story concrete parking garage.
The wood portions of the building were ordered demolished after the fire, and the concrete was deemed structurally sound.
Two-way street restorations
Resurfacing and striping began in February on a project to restore two-way traffic to Forsyth and Adams streets between Jefferson and Liberty streets.
The $4.6 million first phase of the project will include closures of one lane of each street for 60 days, followed by closure of the other lane for the same duration.
The work is designed to slow traffic, make the streets safer for walking, and foster development of street-level dining and retail.
St. Johns River Park
Construction is underway on the $10.4 million park adjacent to Friendship Fountain.
A centerpiece ship-shaped piece of play equipment has been installed for the history-themed play park.
Other features will include a wedding venue, picnic areas and interpretive gardens.
Completion is estimated in early 2026.
Autonomous Innovation Center/U2C
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has begun testing autonomous vans for its Ultimate Urban Circulator along the system’s Bay Street Innovation Corridor.
Work is progressing on the control center for the system, the Autonomous Innovation Center at 650 W. Bay St. in LaVilla. Including the $40.5 million building, the U2C’s costs are estimated at up to $400 million.
Restaurant update
• The city issued a permit in March for Dorothy’s Downtown, a Southern and Creole restaurant proposed in the space of the former Burrito Gallery at 21 E. Adams St.
• In November 2024, Indigo Road Hospitality Group announced plans to open Oak Steakhouse on the ground floor of the Greenleaf & Crosby Building at 204 N. Laura St. in the space previously occupied by Jacobs Jewelers.
• In February, Players Grille opened its Brooklyn location on the ground floor of the Home2 Suites by Hilton Jacksonville Downtown, 600 Park St.
• The Prudential Club restaurant and lounge states on its website that it is opening soon at 1430 Prudential Drive, where an incorporated liquor store has already opened.
• Lily’s Asian-American Food opened in February at 11 E. Forsyth St., former home of Super Food & Brew.
• The locally owned Vantage Point Coffee shop opened in a 900-square-foot space of the Union Terminal Warehouse.
By Ric Anderson, Reporter
Jax Daily Record
LaVilla site selected for new University of Florida Jacksonville graduate campus, Semiconductor Institute
A University of Florida Board of Trustees committee selected the area around the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center as the site for the university’s planned graduate center campus in Jacksonville.
The Committee on Governance, Government Relations and Internal Affairs voted unanimously Dec. 12 to select the site and delegate authority to the university president and board chair to negotiate an agreement to convey the property.
The full board will vote on the matter Dec. 13.
A presentation to the committee included renderings and conceptual site plans showing UF buildings immediately north of the Union Terminal Station and west to the Forsyth Street exit of Interstate 95.
Includes Florida Semiconductor Institute
A news release from the city of Jacksonville said the campus is expected to open in fall 2026 and would include the Florida Semiconductor Institute.
The release said graduate degree offerings were being finalized, but areas under consideration include business management; data analytics; computer science with concentrations in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity; law; and biomedical and health sciences.
UF says enrollment at the fully built-out campus could reach 20,000 or more.
Mayor Donna Deegan plans to work with the Downtown Investment Authority and City Council to provide 22 acres, the release said. With the Florida Semiconductor Institute as part of the campus, the administration will propose $50 million in city funding for the project on top of $50 million committed by City Council in the spring of 2023.
In a question-and-answer session at City Hall with reporters after the committee’s vote, Deegan said the initial conveyance would involve two vacant city-owned properties next to the convention center.
Additional properties
Deegan said UF was working to secure a property other than those two, possibly an existing building, where it would begin offering classes in the fall of 2026.
UF had negotiated with JEA for a short-term lease of space on the fifth floor of the municipal utility’s headquarters building at 225 N. Pearl St., but a JEA spokeswoman said a deal had not been reached.
UF announced nearly two years ago that it planned to open a graduate school focusing on health and financial technology in Downtown Jacksonville.
Since then, $250 million in funding has been committed to the project, comprising $150 million from the state of Florida, the $50 million from the city of Jacksonville and $50 million from private donors.
Deegan said the campus would be “another monumental step towards Jacksonville being a national leader in the industries that will shape our collective future.”
Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees, said: “Our goal is to create a national center of excellence and to bring our bright students to this forward-thinking city. We are grateful for our strong partnerships with the state, city, and community leaders – we are going to do big things together.”
Jacksonville 'on the forefront of innovation'
UF interim President Kent Fuchs said, “Jacksonville – like UF – is on the forefront of innovation.”
“This is a place where our students will create great change and help transform the industries of the future,” he said.
The property near the convention center was among three that had been publicly identified as sites being considered by UF, including the soon-to-be vacated Jacksonville Fairgrounds and land near the Florida State College at Jacksonville Downtown campus.
Deegan recommended the convention center site in a Dec. 5 letter to Fuchs and Hosseini. In the letter, she said the city would work with the university on terms of conveyance “so that design, planning, and construction can begin as quickly as possible in 2025.”
The Daily Record has requested details on the parcels under consideration from the city.
During the committee meeting, Hosseini commended Deegan, Council members and Jacksonville business development officials for driving the project forward.
“The leaders of Jacksonville kept on pushing us, (saying), ‘Come on, let’s go,’” he said. “That’s so admirable. We all think governments are slow and never move. But they did an impressive job.”
Why LaVilla
Kurt Dudas, UF vice president for strategic initiatives, told committee members that the president’s office recommended the Prime Osborn site based partly on its proximity to interstates 10 and 95 and to businesses in Brooklyn and the Downtown core.
Other reasons included the nearby availability of public transportation out of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s headquarters, and the presence of public amenities such as Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park and the Emerald Trail Model Mile.
David Norton, UF vice president for research, said locating the Florida Semiconductor Institute in Jacksonville offered an opportunity for it to become a “world-class research facility” specializing in national security. Florida lawmakers approved $80 million for the institute this year.
“The accessibility of Jacksonville with direct flights into Washington, D.C., make it much more attractive for us to really build-out something new that will be competitive to what other universities across the country have already built-out in the area of national security,” he said.
Prompted by a question from Hosseini, Norton indicated the institute’s economic impact could eventually be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jaguars reaction
The Jacksonville Jaguars issued a statement calling the committee’s vote “a moment of celebration” for team owner Shad Khan and his family. The Khan family donated $5 million toward landing the campus and had offered the 14.1-acre Fairgrounds property, which in 2022 it agreed to purchase.
“Growing Downtown Jacksonville to be a versatile center for commerce, education, entertainment and lifestyle is a priority for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” the statement read.
“With today’s news from the University of Florida on the location of their graduate studies campus and Florida Semiconductor Institute, our downtown is one step closer to that reality.”
Demolition in future
Deegan said that eventually the newer portions of the convention center, not including the historic train station, could be demolished to make way for the campus.
However, she told reporters that plans involving the demolition would be years away, allowing time for the city to develop a new convention center. likely at a site near the current Duval County jail.
“In terms of the convention center itself, that is probably 10 years down the road,” she said.
“You’ll have another mayor to beat up on, probably, by that time.”
Conveying properties
Deegan said the city’s timeline called for the Downtown Investment Authority to vote in January 2025 on conveying the initial two properties.
The city said the DIA vote would be on six parcels, five of which make up one of the lots.
The properties involved in the DIA vote in January are a grass parking lot directly north of the train station and an adjacent paved parking lot to the east, across Park Street.
Five properties comprise the block of Bay, Forsyth and Lee streets and LaVilla Center North totaling 1.33 acres.
The sixth property is 2.26 acres next to the east at Bay, Forsyth and Lee streets
“At the end of the day, a lot of space that we’ve had sitting around doing nothing and providing no tax benefit to the city is going to be a vibrant part of our Downtown,” she said.
In March 2024, the State University System Board of Governors approved UF’s plan to establish the school.
UF followed up by negotiating with JEA for a short-term lease of space on the fifth floor of the municipal utility’s headquarters building at 225 N. Pearl St.
A JEA spokeswoman said Dec. 11 that no agreement had been reached.
The UF colleges participating in the establishment of the facility include the Warrington College of Business; the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering; the College of Medicine; the College of Public Health and Health Professions; the Levin College of Law; and the College of Design, Construction and Planning.
Plans unveiled in 2023
Plans for UF to establish the school in Jacksonville were unveiled in February 2023, long enough ago that two of the principals then are no longer involved.
Mayor Lenny Curry’s term ended in July 2023 and UF President Ben Sasse resigned in July 2024 after 17 months on the job, the shortest term of any non-interim president in the university’s history.
Hosseini, a strong proponent of the proposed Jacksonville center, also took part in the February 2023 announcement and remains part of the board.
Sasse, a former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, had touted the Jacksonville school as part of his vision to expand the university and turn it into an economic development engine for communities outside of Gainesville.
Sasse’s strategy involved partnering with businesses to apply research to real-world challenges and putting students closer to prospective employers.
In his resignation, Sasse cited concerns over his wife’s health.
Later, the Independent Florida Alligator reported that Sasse’s relationship with Hosseini had collapsed and that Sasse had more than tripled his office’s spending during his 17 months as president while directing millions of dollars of university funds into consulting contracts and positions for his political allies.
By Ric Anderson, Reporter
Jacksonville Daily Record
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Jacksonville's riverfront transformation: Six new parks to reshape downtown
In the midst of several construction sites around Jacksonville are projects that won't just add to the city's concrete jungle.
The city is getting new and revamped park spaces in areas with frontage along the St. Johns River.
On the City of Jacksonville's recently updated dinosaur-themed website, I Dig Jax, the city highlights six waterfront parks under construction. These are Metropolitan Park, Riverfront Plaza, Music Heritage Garden, Shipyards West Park, RiversEdge and St. Johns River Park, which surrounds the Southbank's Friendship Fountain.
“Riverfront parks are one of the transformational projects that will create the ignition point for downtown Jacksonville to take off," Mayor Donna Deegan said in an emailed response to the Business Journal. "It was the spark that made Tampa’s downtown ignite, and it will do the same for Jacksonville."
According to city staff, the agreement to build the Jacksonville Jaguars's Stadium of the Future includes "the largest community benefits agreement in NFL history," as it has fully funded the final construction of Shipyards West Park, Metropolitan Park and Riverfront Plaza.
Shipyards West Park will be 10 acres park space designed by Agency Landscape + Planning. In addition to providing connectivity to the riverwalk, it will have pickleball and volleyball courts, fishing piers, a kayak launch and a boardwalk. The park will also have a beach area, forest space and floating wetlands.
On July 29, a pre-application permit for Shipyards West Park was submitted to St. Johns River Water Management District by environmental consultant The NDN Companies and The City of Jacksonville.
Metropolitan Park is an existing park, located at 4110 Gator Bowl Drive and spans over 18 acres along the St. Johns River. Revitalization for this park has included a boardwalk, an increased tree canopy with a canopy walk, a performance lawn space, tailgate plaza and more.
Leading up to Metropolitan Park, there will be an enhanced pedestrian crossing area and a planted median. Designs are expected to be finalized this winter.
At the former site of The Landing, Riverfront Plaza is located in downtown next to the Main Street Bridge. It is being built in two phases. The first phase, which will include an elevated playground on top of a park pavilion building, a large flexible event lawn and riverwalk space.
It will also include space connecting Riverfront Plaza to the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts. The park pavilion building will include a small cafe space and restrooms. The second phase will bring a beer garden, bike and pedestrian connection to the Main Street Bridge and more. The first phase will be open in early 2026, and the second phase will begin in the fall.
Located just west of Riverfront Plaza, at 300 Water St., Music Heritage Garden will use musical motifs, such as a focal treble clef and music notes, to highlight the city's impact on music history. The park is currently under construction and is expected to be complete in spring 2026.
On the Southbank, RiversEdge will be built in phases and consist of multiple adjacent parks, centered around themes of health and fitness. One of the parks at RiversEdge, Northwest Park, has seven pieces of interactive art by Barcelona-based artist Anaisa Franco.
The area's main park will feature a sculpture by Mark Fornes. In June, the Downtown Investment Authority granted Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. an extension on the delivery of the park's first phase. The first phase should be completed by the end of the year.
Work is currently underway at St. Johns River Park to reshape the area surrounding Friendship Fountain. This includes a Jean Ribault-themed pirate ship playground, a garden, concession area that nods to Jacksonville's indigenous Timucua Native Americans, a wedding plaza and more. This project is slated to be completed in early 2026.
"These plans have incorporated feedback from dozens of public meetings on what citizens would like to see in the parks. We look forward to the continued design and construction that will ensure our downtown park system is a world class destination space and driver of economic development," Mayor Deegan said in a statement. "These investments will increase the quality of life for everyone, attract more visitors to our beautiful city, and deliver significant return for our citizens."
By Leah Foreman, ReporterJax Business Journal
‘A dream for bikers and walkers’: Ribbon-cutting held for $10.9 million Park Street project
The city of Jacksonville marked the ceremonial opening of a redesigned section of Park Street in Downtown Jacksonville on July 21 in what City Council member Jimmy Peluso called a green light for property development on the corridor.
Mayor Donna Deegan and other city and community leaders gathered for a mid-morning ribbon-cutting for the $10.9 million project, which slimmed the roadway between Forest and Stonewall streets while adding larger sidewalks, more shade trees and traffic-calming devices such as roundabouts.
The north end connects to the LaVilla Link of the Emerald Trail, which if fully built would create more than 30 miles of public trails in the center of Duval County. The south end offers a connection to Riverside and the Five Points district, as well as the Artist Walk skate park.
In reducing vehicle traffic lanes from four to two, the city described the project as a “road diet.”
“We know we had developers, including Block Nine and a few others, who said, ‘We’re going to wait until this road diet gets completed,’” Peluso said.
“Now that it has, we’re going to get some incredible housing projects right here. We’re going to see more vibrancy, we’re going to see more people walking and biking down this street and using the Emerald Trail. This is what makes a Downtown vibrant and exciting.”
In April 2023, Trevato Development Group obtained conceptual approval from the Downtown Development Review Board for its $100 million Block Nine mixed-use development at 114 Park St., 145 Chelsea St., and 1015, 1017 and 1025 Jackson St.
Trevato’s plans included a seven-story building with 293 multifamily units, 7,000 square feet of retail space and 5,000 square feet of co-working space. There is restaurant space with indoor and outdoor seating.
Peluso, whose District 7 includes the reworked stretch of Park Street, said that although the infrastructure project “sounds boring, because it’s just a road,” it would be “a conduit to so much more.”
Deegan said the project turned a “car-dominated corridor” into a “safer, more vibrant and more accessible public space.
“It’s a dream for bikers and walkers, it’s good for business, it’s adding shade and it’s linking to the Emerald Trail,” she said.
“The street now invites families to stroll, kids to ride bikes, businesses to thrive and has the added benefit of keeping everybody safer.”
Peluso said the project was one of several designed to make Downtown more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.
“This can be a walkable and bikeable city,” he said. “It can be. And it will be, if we keep our foot on the gas.”
Among those taking part were Lori Boyer, former CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority, Nina Sickler, city director of public works, and Kay Ehas, CEO of Groundwork Jacksonville, the city’s nonprofit partner in developing the Emerald Trail.
A group of about 30 cyclists also attended.
By Ric Anderson, Reporter
Jax Daily Record
Colliers exec predicts vibrant urban core for Jacksonville by 2027 as developments take shape
Jacksonville’s long-anticipated downtown revival is no longer a distant vision — it’s rising from the ground, brick by brick. With cranes in the air, restaurants opening and multifamily units leasing at record rates, developers and stakeholders say the city’s urban core is entering a defining moment.
That was the message delivered at Downtown Vision Inc.’s quarterly stakeholder meeting June 10, where Colliers Urban Division SVP Matt Clark laid out an optimistic timeline for when downtown’s transformation will truly take hold.
“Everything is happening simultaneously, so you really will start to feel Jacksonville becoming a vibrant city in 2027 or 2028 when everything starts to come online and mesh together. So get excited and start believing,” Clark told the gathered audience.
With a number of major downtown and downtown-adjacent development projects now open (Pizza Dynamo and Pour House, the Jacksonville History Center at the Casket Company, One Riverside and the Corner on Main from Corner Lot, etc.) and under current construction (the Greenleaf Building from JWB, retail at One Riverside and the Pearl Square project from Gateway Jax).
Clark made no major announcements, but elucidated on the Colliers team’s comprehensive urban Jacksonville vision.
“I’ve always viewed Riverfront plazas as the roots of downtown, Laura Street as the trunk and now, Pearl Square is the canopy that everything will branch off of,” Clark said.
While the city undertakes Jax Riverfront Plaza redevelopment, two stories of the seven-story, 205-unit building at 515 Pearl St. has already risen from the ground. And just two weeks ago, ribbons were cut to begin phase two — a 286-unit mixed-use project at 425 W. Beaver St.
Residential availability and subsequent concentration are the keys that will unlock the broker’s ability to populate the urban core, according to Clark.
“Pearl Square is going to create the residential density to create a neighborhood of people living downtown, which is what we've been missing,” Clark said.
For downtown developers, the question has always been if builders can achieve optimum residential occupancy rates. The adjacent One Riverside project (just across the river in Brooklyn) has elicited the highest multifamily rates that Colliers has seen in Jacksonville. The young professionals excited to move into this new urban development suggests the possibility of success for projects like Pearl Square.
“The opportunity has always been there,” Clark said. “We’re just now beginning to deliver on that.”
As phase one and two come together, Colliers’ job is to create retail density for approximately 40,000 square feet of retail space that the project will create.
While names will slowly be released over the next few months, Clark said that a number of national brands intend to sign on to open up on Beaver and Pearl streets, including an anchor grocer.
This is similar to the adjacent One Riverside project just across the river in Brooklyn. With Whole Foods signed on and now under construction, retailers followed. Clark reports that One Riverside’s retail is now 100 percent leased with names that will be announced in the coming weeks.
With at least 50 vacant storefronts downtown and numerous cranes to signify urban rebirth, national brands from Atlanta, Charleston and Nashville, don’t want to miss out on this growth. Simultaneous projects and new retailers also allows for each brand to distinguish itself, as aligned to Gateway’s urban theme.
“We really want to shape places that look and align to the community as well as give distinction to their brand,” Clark said.
The eventual grocer, for example, is going to be allowed to design according to their brand as well as to their local presence to establish “an authentic feeling there.”
As national brands come in, this gives local brands more confidence to make the significant investment in a downtown that has not always followed through on its promises. As evidence of this claim, Clark said that Colliers has four signed letters of intent from four “significant” local groups.
For its part, DVI is proud of the years-long alignment civic and private alignment that’s led not only to billions of dollars in downtown development, but that’s now generating confidence in the city’s populace and interest from its small businesses.
“It’s so refreshing to see this collaboration. It just goes to show that, in working towards a more vibrant downtown, that we’re all in this together,” Eduardo Santos, stakeholder engagement champion at DVI, told the Biz Journal.
By Matt Denis, Reporter
Jacksonville Business Journal