JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gateway Jax, a commercial real estate company, announced plans Wednesday for a mixed-use development in the North Core area of Downtown Jacksonville that will cost $500 million.
The project, planned as the first phase of a 22-acre $2 billion development, will break ground in mid-2024 and will include apartments and a grocery and retail space around Pearl Street.
The Downtown North Core area is north of the Duval County Courthouse and west of First Baptist Church, where the developers have been acquiring property.
Gateway Jax is backed by DLP Capital, which is providing most of the funding for the project, and sponsored by Jacksonville-based JWB Real Estate Capital.
“They have done it, and they want to do it here. I think it’s going to be fantastic for downtown,” Mayor Donna Deegan said.
The full project will eventually span more than 20 blocks, starting with the five-block first phase, called the Pearl Street District.
The Downtown Development Review Board unanimously awarded conceptual approval on Sept. 14 to the site plan for the mixed-use Pearl Street District.
The properties are bordered by Union, Julia, Church and Clay streets and bisected by Pearl, Beaver and Ashley streets.
Conceptual project renderings show several new multistory buildings, including one 22-story building, surrounded by green space.
“We are at a place and time where you have to reimagine what our city will look like and this is a catalyst to changing downtown,” City Councilman Ken Amaro said.
According to the Daily Record, no proposed city financial incentives package for the project has been released by the Downtown Investment Authority, but a preliminary “Pearl Street Incentives Summary” spreadsheet by Gateway Jax dated March 22, 2023, shows potential taxpayer incentives of $135.64 million.
This is not a done deal yet. Any plan has to get approval from the Downtown Investment Authority and City Council.
For the full story, go to JaxDailyRecord.com.