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.
Downtown Jacksonville has long been a place where ambition often outpaced reality.
Renderings came and went. Big ideas surfaced, stalled or shifted. Public officials and civic leaders spent decades talking about the urban core’s comeback, even as many Jacksonville residents remained skeptical that the city center would ever reach the critical mass needed to feel like a true neighborhood.
Downtown Vision Inc.’s latest State of Downtown Report argues that moment is no longer theoretical.
The nonprofit Business Improvement District’s 2025 report shows a downtown with $7 billion in its development pipeline, 9,228 residents, 19.7 million annual visits and several of the region’s largest public and private projects moving from plans into active construction.
For DVI CEO Jake Gordon, the numbers point to a downtown that is entering a different phase.
“Investor confidence has never been higher,” Gordon told the Business Journal Wednesday.
The report covers Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025, and marks DVI’s shift from an 18-month reporting cycle to a calendar-year format. The change is meant to better track downtown’s momentum across development, housing, office, tourism, parks, infrastructure and other measures of urban vitality.
The report lands at a moment when several transformative projects are advancing at once: Gateway Jax’s Pearl Square, Related Group’s RiversEdge, the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium renovation, the University of Florida graduate campus in LaVilla, Baptist Health’s McGehee Family Tower and new or improved riverfront parks on both sides of the St. Johns River.
“Downtown Jacksonville is no longer a future conversation. It is happening right now, and the momentum is undeniable,” said Colin Tarbert, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority, in a statement accompanying the report.
The report places downtown’s 2025 development pipeline at $7 billion, including $809 million completed in 2025, $3 billion under construction, $36 million approved and $2.8 billion in review or proposed.
That follows $2.6 billion in completed investment from 2000 to 2015 and $3.4 billion from 2016 to 2024, according to the report.
Gordon said those numbers matter because they provide a more concrete way to measure a downtown that has often been judged by perception.
Jacksonville has talked about downtown’s comeback through multiple mayoral administrations, he said. That long history can make residents focus on the stops and starts. But investors looking at the city today see a different picture: large parcels, rising demand, improving amenities and a downtown that still has room to grow.
The report describes 2025 as a “landmark year” in which “decades of visioning and planning yielded significant, tangible progress toward the multi-year transformation of North Florida’s urban center.”
Among the largest projects under construction or advancing are the $1.4 billion “Stadium of the Future” renovation, the $693 million RiversEdge development, the $500 million first phase of Pearl Square, the $387.6 million One Tower Court and Four Seasons project, the $250 million One Riverside project, the $202.7 million Southbank Residences tower and the $190 million Baptist Health expansion.
Gordon said the scale of those investments is important, but so is who is making them.
He pointed to local investors, such as JWB Real Estate Capital and Gateway Jax, as early movers that helped build confidence. But he also said the arrival of groups like Related, which has invested heavily elsewhere in Florida, signals that Jacksonville is now getting attention from companies that were not previously focused on the market.
Perhaps the most important number in the report is not the dollar value of the pipeline, but the number of people now living downtown.
Downtown Jacksonville’s residential population reached 9,228 in 2025, a 20.5% increase from the previous year and a 97% increase since 2016, according to the report. The urban core had 5,655 residential units and a 96% occupancy rate, with the report’s summary page listing 1,576 units under construction and its housing section pointing to more than 2,100 units under construction in the broader pipeline.
The report projects downtown’s population could reach 13,382 by 2028, with the number of units increasing to 8,200.
For years, 10,000 residents has been treated as a key milestone in downtown’s effort to support more restaurants, retailers, grocery stores and neighborhood services. Gordon said downtown is now close enough that the milestone feels real rather than aspirational.
He said the increase from 2016 is especially striking because that was his first full year working in downtown Jacksonville.
“The idea that we’ve added that many residents, more than double the residents, is really impressive,” Gordon said.
The report says 2025 brought 1,380 new residents occupying 958 newly constructed units, primarily from Artea on the Southbank, One Riverside in Brooklyn, Union Terminal Warehouse in the Sports and Entertainment District, Lofts at Cathedral in Cathedral Hill and Johnson Commons in LaVilla.
Gordon said the market is also becoming more varied. Downtown now includes affordable housing, market-rate apartments, high-end rentals, townhomes and luxury riverfront options.
That range matters, he said, because the urban core is becoming a more realistic choice for different types of residents.
“It’s literally a more attractive option as a place to live than it’s ever been,” Gordon said.
He pointed to the Toll Brothers townhomes at RiversEdge, where units have been selling for more than $1 million, as one example of how far the market has moved.
For Gordon, the takeaway is not only that downtown has added residents. It is that people are willing to pay premium prices for new housing in the urban core, especially when it is paired with riverfront parks, walkability and nearby amenities.
The 96% occupancy rate also gives developers a stronger case for future projects.
“If you build buildings and they’re not all the way full, that’s not a good sign,” Gordon said. “But 4% vacancy in residential units is really good.”
The report is anchored by major developments, but Gordon said downtown’s future cannot be built on marquee projects alone.
Pearl Square, RiversEdge, the stadium renovation, the Four Seasons and UF’s graduate campus can change downtown’s trajectory. But smaller storefronts, restaurants, bars and adaptive reuse projects are what fill in the experience between those anchors.
“You need both,” Gordon said.
He said it would be unrealistic to expect public agencies to spend the same amount of time on a small restaurant or bar as they spend on a billion-dollar stadium deal. Still, the success of downtown from a visitor or resident perspective often depends on the density of smaller uses between large investments.
Projects such as The Raven, Mag’s Cafe and other independent concepts may not carry the same tax base or construction cost as a tower or campus, but Gordon said they help shape the day-to-day experience of downtown.
That balance is central to the next phase of downtown’s growth.
Gordon described downtown as a kind of barbell, with the Sports and Entertainment District and riverfront investment on one end and LaVilla, the JTA Regional Transportation Center and UF graduate campus on the other. The challenge now is filling in the space between those anchors so that downtown functions as a connected district instead of a collection of isolated nodes.
The DIA’s approach to the former courthouse and City Hall Annex site is one example, he said. Rather than wait for a single massive redevelopment of the entire site, the agency moved forward with a portion of the property near the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, where Corner Lot is planning a riverfront project.
That type of incremental strategy, Gordon said, can help raise values and make the next phase more viable.
“You can’t just roll one ball uphill,” he said. “You’ve got to roll all balls at the same time to make downtown great.”
The report describes 2025 as a “monumental year” for downtown public spaces, with the opening of or improvements to Riverfront Plaza, the parks at RiversEdge and the playground at St. Johns River Park/Friendship Fountain.
The first phase of Riverfront Plaza opened in November 2025 at the former Jacksonville Landing site. The $32.5 million phase includes a six-acre urban park with a playground and tiered lawn. The report says it drew nearly 21,000 visitors in its first month.
The playground at St. Johns River Park/Friendship Fountain, completed in April 2025, welcomed more than 55,000 visitors within its first month, according to the report.
The parks at RiversEdge, a $35 million component of the Southbank mixed-use development, hosted more than 20,000 visitors within the first month of opening.
The report also says 74% of visitors to downtown’s three new riverfront parks in their first month came from within 3 to 30 miles of downtown Jacksonville, suggesting the spaces are drawing regional residents, not only nearby downtown users.
More than $230 million in additional public space investment is in the pipeline, including Riverfront Plaza Phase 2, McCoys Creek Park, the Riverfront Music Garden, Metropolitan Park, Shipyards West Park, James Weldon Johnson Park and Hogan’s Creek Restoration & Greenway.
Gordon said those investments matter because public spaces help connect the larger development nodes now taking shape.
He pointed to the Riverwalk, Emerald Trail, scooters, bike lanes and other mobility options as key pieces of downtown’s next phase. As downtown grows, he said, the question should not be how to make it easier for every visitor to park directly in front of every destination. It should be how to create more ways to move through the urban core without relying on a car for every trip.
“Our car-centric transportation should not be the focus,” Gordon said.
As Brooklyn, Pearl Square, RiversEdge, the Sports and Entertainment District and LaVilla all grow, Jacksonville faces a new challenge: making those areas feel connected.
Gordon said that will require a mix of transportation options, including walking trails, scooters, bikes, riverfront connections, ride-share, transit and better use of existing parking.
He said downtown still has plenty of parking if people are willing to walk a few blocks, but he cautioned that cities trying to build stronger downtowns are not solving their growth challenges by simply adding more parking garages.
“There is not one city in America that’s building up its downtown that’s choosing parking garage,” Gordon said.
The point, Gordon said, is also tied to downtown’s economics. Parking garages and surface lots produce less taxable value than dense mixed-use buildings, offices, hotels and residential towers. A stronger downtown tax base helps fund services and infrastructure across the broader city.
He compared the issue to other cities that invested in their downtowns over decades, including Nashville, Tampa and Miami. Those cities now face problems of congestion and affordability, but they also show the fiscal power of dense urban districts.
Jacksonville, he said, has a different challenge because of its size. With nearly 900 square miles, the city must provide infrastructure over a vast area. A stronger downtown can help support that broader system.
“What you would want is a very dense urban core that funds a lot of your city,” Gordon said.
The report’s overall message is optimistic, but Gordon cautioned that downtown revitalization does not have a final endpoint.
Even cities with far larger and more mature downtowns are still working on density, transit, parks, housing, affordability and retail.
“It’s literally a race that never is done,” Gordon said.
For Jacksonville, the difference is that the next phase is now more visible.
Cranes are in the air. Residents are filling new buildings. Riverfront parks are opening. Major institutions are expanding. Investors who once overlooked Jacksonville are paying attention.
The challenge now is whether those pieces can be connected into a cohesive downtown experience.
The report notes downtown occupies less than 1% of Jacksonville’s land area but provides 4.3% of the city’s property tax revenue, 32% of its hotel tax revenue and 8% of its sales tax revenue. It also serves as the region’s cultural center, employment hub and primary gathering place.
Gordon said that makes continued investment in downtown not only a civic priority, but a citywide business case.
“Downtown is an important part of that,” he said. “Incentivizing the urban core to get better is valuable.”
By James Cannon
Jacksonville Business Journal
Nearly six months after the the opening of the first phase of Riverfront Plaza, the city of Jacksonville and its partners are shifting the focus to the park's second phase, which includes elements like a beer garden, trails, riverwalk connection and pedestrian and bike connectivity to the Main Street Bridge.
On May 13, the city hosted a more than two-hour long session for the public to provide feedback on the park's updated design plan for its phase two.
Construction of the second phase is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2027.
Bryan Carson, a landscape architect at Perkins&Will and the lead designer for the Riverfront Plaza project, was at the public input session and spoke to the Business Journal.
"Our goal is to just listen, to hear what people think," Carson said. "This is the first time that they're seeing updated renderings of what phase two can look like. And we work really hard to make these renderings look beautiful and very real, but they're not real."
Carson said that some fundamental elements of the original plan for phase two, like the beer garden, dining terrace, a full-service restaurant and access to the Main Street Bridge, have remained. Updates to the design give it a more intimate feel and have the addition of 14 swing chairs on an elevated deck platform.
Carson previously told the Business Journal in October 2025 that Perkins&Will designed the park with a four corners design concept, which "activates nodes around the edges very strategically, while keeping the center open and flexible." The center, or the beating heart of the project, remains the event lawn.
The input session occurred while the park's first phase has been open since the end of 2025 and portions of the park's open space are being used for the Iron Man event which will take place on May 16.
"Phase one has turned out incredible. It's a blessing to come and hear the sounds of the children playing and see the park activated. It truly is very, very fulfilling," Carson said. "Phase two is really exciting, it's going to complete the original vision. It offers a lot that that phase one doesn't yet offer and complete a program for all different types of people to come enjoy the park."
On May 14, the Downtown Development Review Board will be presented with information regarding the capital project for the second phase of Riverfront Plaza.
At the next Downtown Investment Authority meeting, on May 20, the board will vote on a resolution to enter into a negotiations with Baltimore-baed Atlas Restaurant Group, for the lease, construction, development and operation of a full-service restaurant located on 0.43-acre waterfront parcel within Riverfront Plaza, located at 2 Independent Dr. W. If the board approves it, DIA CEO Colin Tarbert, also from Baltimore, Maryland, will enter an exclusive negotiation period, of up to 45 days (and a possible 30-day extension) with Atlas Restaurant Group. Atlas would, in turn, bring a 6,000-square foot restaurant concept, with outdoor seating, rooftop activation opportunities and integration within the greater park area.
The DIA received another proposal, from Florida-based PK Hospitality Group/Pizzaalley's, but its committee — comprised of Jill Caffey, Allan DeVault and Wade McArthur III —ultimately selected Atlas Restaurant Group's proposal which would include an approximate $12 million investment, with $4 million in direct tenant investment.
Atlas has identified Cronk Duch Architecture and Haskell as its would-be design and construction partners. Atlas would bring a three-tiered experience: a waterfront raw bar and casual dining element, a full-service dining room with steak and seafood offerings and a rooftop bar and lounge for activation of the area in the evening. Atlas has over 30 concepts in Maryland and Washington, D.C, and more than 20 more restaurant concepts in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Texas. This would mark the Baltimore restaurant group's first foray into Northeast Florida, after two locations of its seafood concept Loch Bar, in Boca Raton and Tampa.
By Leah Foreman
Jacksonville Business Journal
A month after selecting a developer for its graduate campus in Downtown Jacksonville, the University of Florida released an updated rendering May 12 of plans for its first new construction project for the endeavor.
Designs from Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate show an eight-story building at the corner of West Bay and Lee streets in the LaVilla neighborhood. The rendering also shows space for outdoor seating, street parking and balconies jutting from the largely glass structure.
In a statement, UF board of trustees Chair Mori Hosseini said the university’s plans would be further refined from the May 12 rendering.
“We are thrilled to have begun design and planning for the first new building for UF Jacksonville,” Hosseini said.
“This updated rendering shows the promise of our efforts. It is important to note that this rendering of the first building is a starting point; it will evolve as the developer team and the university work together to refine the vision into what ultimately will be a spectacular facility and the keystone of a world-class campus.”
In September 2025, about 100 representatives from potential developers of the campus’ first phase took part in a site visit, which included an overview of the project and the process for design and construction.
The campus is planned in and around the historic Jacksonville Terminal rail station in LaVilla.
UF said in a news release at that time the developer would build “more than 200,000 square feet of high-tech, cutting-edge research, academic, event, retail and administrative office spaces.”
UF says it has amassed $245 million in state funding and private donations for the campus. In June 2025, the city of Jacksonville approved $105 million in Duval County taxpayer funding for the campus through an ordinance to convey five city-owned properties to UF.
Plans call for conversion of the former Interline Brands building at 801 W. Bay St. into classrooms and for the construction of two new buildings on the property between it and the rail station.
After the build-out of the Interline Brands building and construction of the first two new buildings, the university said it would shift toward developing new buildings on property west of the rail station.
By Joe Lister
Jacksonville Daily Record
Complete with a piano played by walking on the keys and Jacksonville’s take on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, Riverfront Music Garden opened May 13 on the Downtown Northbank with a celebration that drew city and community leaders.
The park, under construction since 2024, is themed on Jacksonville’s music history, including plaques embedded in the walkway honoring such notable musical figures as Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers Band, Tim McGraw, Ma Rainey, 38 Special, and brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson.
With its completion, and with an elevated section of the Northbank Riverwalk being reinstalled after being removed for work on McCoys Creek, the park connects the Riverwalk from the Hyatt Hotel adjacent to the Main Street bridge through to the Fuller Warren Bridge and Riverside Arts Market.
“This new space is a living celebration of the truly incredible contributions Jacksonville has made to American music,” Mayor Donna Deegan said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We need to embrace our history and our heritage, and our music is one of those things that really sets us apart here in Jacksonville.”
Between the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts at 300 Water St. and the St. Johns River, the park includes displays noting Jacksonville’s musical history, the plaques, a garden and more.
Daryl Joseph, director of the city Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, said the project cost around $7 million. Some of the park’s infrastructure was installed to account for changing weather conditions, including a raised Riverwalk to account for elevated water levels and rain gardens to accommodate storm conditions.
The park is adjacent to Riverfront Plaza, the first phase of which opened in December. Between the two parks, the Riverwalk connects to the Emerald Trail construction along Hogan Street.
The Emerald Trail is designed as a 30-mile system of pedestrian and bicycle pathways in central Jacksonville connecting 14 neighborhoods to Downtown, the St. Johns River, McCoys Creek and Hogans Creek. Along the route are 16 schools, two colleges and 21 parks.
Portions of the trail have been completed. The project is a partnership between the city and nonprofit Groundwork Jacksonville.
The Hogan Street connection is one of three locations where the Riverwalk will connect to the Emerald Trail, with other connections at Riverside Arts Market and McCoys Creek.
“All of these things are important to the success of the Emerald Trail as well,” said Groundwork Jax CEO Kay Ehas. “I want to congratulate the city, because progress really is being made.”
“This project is one of those things, one of those catalytic developments that this city will remember forever. This river is yours. This Riverwalk is free and open to all and any,” said Council member Jimmy Peluso, whose district includes the Northbank.
“It will be a tourist attraction, and this park, and the parks on the river, are going to be places that people will be using for the next 100 years.”
By Joe Lister
Jacksonville Daily Record