A concert and private events venue is scheduled to open early next year at the Dennis + Ives mixed-use development at 1505 Dennis St. in the Rail Yard District.
Nashville-based Marathon Live will manage the facility.
Josh Billue, Marathon Live president, said the company started looking at Jacksonville about five years ago. It discovered the Dennis + Ives project in 2019, when Billue was touring the former Ford Motor Co. plant near the Mathews Bridge for a possible venue.
“There is value in a city that’s authentic. We are always looking for opportunities that make sense and we saw the Dennis + Ives vision,” Billue said.
“Jacksonville is a music city. It’s a diamond in the rough.”
The company plans to construct a 26,000-square-foot concert hall at Dennis + Ives. Billue said building from the ground up will eliminate challenges that sometimes must be met when re-purposing an older structure.
Marathon Live was established in 2011. According to its website, Marathon Live provides turnkey services, including booking performers, marketing, ticketing, event operations and food and beverages tailored for each event.
In addition to Marathon Music Works in Nashville, the company manages The Signal in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Iron City in Birmingham, Alabama; The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri; and The Hall in Little Rock, Arkansas.
All are midsize venues with standing room capacities of 1,200 to 1,700 people.
The new concert hall will be part of the 5.47-acre site at Dennis and Ives streets near Interstate 95. The former Caribbean Cold Storage site began redevelopment in 2019 into office space with outdoor amenities, retail and creative space.
