More than $6.5 billion in planned and active projects is reshaping expectations for downtown Jacksonville — and for hospitality operators who have spent years betting on the urban core’s long-promised revival.
While the wait has been long for many restaurant operators, downtown’s bars, speakeasies and nightlife-driven concepts have quietly built a resilient foundation. As cranes rise and residential growth accelerates, those operators increasingly see themselves positioned for the payoff phase.
Downtown hospitality has faced the same pressures seen across the industry, from pandemic-era shutdowns to rising labor and supply costs. But beverage- and entertainment-focused venues have proven more adaptable in a market still building everyday foot traffic. Operators say that resilience has kept momentum alive through the lean years — and created space for confidence to grow.
Rather than a single entertainment strip, downtown remains a series of nodes, with gaps between activity centers. Operators say those gaps represent opportunity, not weakness, as density and connectivity improve.
A downtown gaining gravity
Public and private investment is now translating into visible change. Riverfront Plaza on the former Jacksonville Landing site has begun opening in phases, and new riverfront spaces on the Southbank are coming online as part of broader redevelopment efforts. Residential, office and mixed-use projects are under construction across the urban core.
“There’s a way different feeling to walking down Bay Street or Forsyth or Market three or four years ago,” said Mark Vandeloo, owner of Ruby Beach Brewing.
Vandeloo opened Ruby Beach’s downtown taproom in 2021, expanding from Jacksonville Beach during one of the most uncertain periods in the hospitality industry’s history. The move forced a strategic pivot — toward adaptive reuse, expanded production and event programming — while embedding the business deeper into downtown’s emerging hospitality network.
The two-story Forsyth Street space allowed Ruby Beach to weather slower foot traffic while positioning the brand for growth as downtown activity returned. Today, the taproom is a consistent gathering place for workers, residents and event-driven crowds.
“We found a way to survive through production and build volume through events while we pushed like hell to help downtown grow,” Vandeloo said. “Then you look and see what has happened in the last three years. Downtown is going to just completely blow up. It just feels poised for that awakening to happen.”
Ruby Beach now sits between a more active Bay Street corridor and the broader downtown grid, where operators continue to eye opportunities along Adams, Forsyth and Laura streets.
“We’re miles away from where I was when we started, but it’s still light years to go,” said Paul Compagnon, former general manager of The Volstead.
A nightlife backbone already in place
From Hogan and Adams streets east through Bay Street and into the Elbow District, downtown has assembled a recognizable chain of cocktail bars, clubs and live music venues. While the walk between them still includes gaps, operators say those gaps are shrinking as new projects and public spaces draw people deeper into downtown.
The Volstead has been a fixture since opening on New Year’s Eve 2013. Hidden behind a velvet curtain on West Adams Street, the Prohibition-era speakeasy has built a loyal following over more than a decade, drawing office workers, downtown residents and destination-seeking visitors.
That consistency has helped the business endure through multiple market cycles.
“It’s not as bad as everyone thinks,” Compagnon said. “Most of the time, it’s a ghost town after seven o’clock down here.”
That dynamic is changing as residential growth accelerates. Downtown now has roughly 9,000 residents, up significantly from a decade ago, according to Downtown Vision. Thousands of additional units are planned or under construction, pushing the area closer to the long-discussed 10,000-resident milestone.
Operators say that threshold matters. More residents mean more casual visits, stronger word-of-mouth confidence and the everyday demand that supports restaurants and bars beyond weekend peaks.
Playing the long game
Few operators embody downtown’s long-term bet more clearly than Dos Gatos.
Opened in 2009 by Jay Albertelli and his partners, Dos Gatos has remained open seven days a week, until 2 a.m., year-round. That reliability, Albertelli said, is central to building trust — not just with customers, but with downtown itself.
“The minute somebody comes downtown and you’ve closed early, you’re never going to build sales,” Albertelli said. “We’re going to be here, and we’re open for you. That confidence breeds consistency in our industry.”
Albertelli returned to Jacksonville after operating bars in Los Angeles believing downtown’s nightlife gap represented opportunity rather than risk. Over time, Dos Gatos has helped normalize downtown as a place to go regularly, not occasionally.
“As long as we’ve been open, more and more people are taking the bar industry more seriously here,” he said. “We want locals and visitors to realize there are so many cool places in this cool town doing really neat stuff.”
What downtown needs now, Albertelli said, is a steady, everyday crowd. With residential growth gaining momentum and billions in public and private investment underway, operators say that consistency is no longer theoretical — it is increasingly within reach.
By Matt Denis, ReporterJax Business Journal