Gateway Jax appears to be working toward a potential development of property at State and Main streets that includes the Park View Inn garage deck and the historic Claude Nolan Cadillac Building.
The JEA received a service availability request March 19 for the proposed project of mixed-use buildings with commercial and multifamily uses on three parcels that comprise 5.1 acres on the edge of Springfield.
The sites are north of Main Street between Laura and Ocean streets with Orange Street to the north. Florida State College of Jacksonville owns one of the three identified parcels.
Kimley-Horn of Jacksonville is the civil engineer.
The project is called the “Orange and Main Gateway site” at 937 N. Main St., the address for the Claude Nolan Cadillac Building.
JEA was asked to review the service availability for 1,100 multifamily units and 250,000 square feet of commercial retail uses.
FSCJ spokesperson Jill Johnson did not have information to report March 28.
"We have had some preliminary conversations about the sale of this property, but it is really too premature at this point," Johnson said.
Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll said March 26 he did not have anything to share.
“We remain very focused on and committed to our first phase of development along Pearl Street,” Moll said by email.
The Pearl Street District is the proposed $500 million first phase that Gateway Jax partners and developers propose in the Downtown NorthCare.
JEA asked for a site plan to accurately determine the utility connection points for the Orange and Main Gateway site and said the parcel number provided was not large enough for the proposed development.
Service availability is part of a developer’s due diligence and does not mean the project will be pursued.
The sites
The three properties comprise:
• 937 N. Main St. The 0.89-acre site features Florida’s first Cadillac dealership, which was designed by architect Henry John Klutho.
The Cadillac property is north of Downtown on the edge of Springfield.
The site comprises a three-story, 12,651-square-foot building developed in 1912 and a three-story, 31,068-square-foot warehouse-storage structure built in 1924, according to Duval County property records.
It is bordered by Main, Orange and Ocean streets.
Ollivanders Downtown LLC bought the site for $1.825 million in December 2022.
DLP Lending Fund LLC of St. Augustine, with an address in Allentown, Pennsylvania, issued a $1.098 million balloon mortgage.
The Ollivanders Downtown name was filed with the state Oct. 13, 2021. Its manager, Contega Business Services, is housed at the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm Downtown.
DLP Capital is a partner in the Gateway Jax redevelopment of more than 20 blocks Downtown with Jacksonville-based JWB Real Estate Capital.
• 901 N. Main St. The 1.49-acre site is the fenced unused parking structure that remains from the demolished Park View Inn on the edge of Springfield.
Dozier Prestige Worldwide LLC paid $2.5 million in October 2022 for the block, bordered by Main, State, Ocean and Orange streets.
DLP Lending Fund LLC issued a $1.62 million balloon mortgage.
The Dozier Prestige name was filed with the state Sept. 15, 2021. Its manager is Contega Business Services, which is housed at the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm.
• 940 N. Main St. The 2.76-acre site is owned by Florida Junior College at Jax in care of the District Board of Trustees for the Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Property records show a three-story, 16,406-square-foot office building developed in 1974. It is bordered by State, Main and Laura streets.
Gateway Jax partner JWB Real Estate Capital and FSCJ representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.
Gateway Jax
While the land was assembled quietly, the 20-plus blocks and 22 acres owned by Gateway Jax partners and developers in Downtown’s NorthCore have been in city reviews for approvals and permitting for a $500 million first phase.
The group’s total 22 acres represents a $2 billion build-out over a decade, Gateway says. Developers said they are looking at more property to add to the deal.
In the first phase, Gateway expects to develop at least 1,000 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom market-rate apartments and 99,000 square feet of retail space, including at least one grocery store, in the first phase that begins development in mid-2024.
That phase, the Pearl Street District, is designed to comprise one 22-story and two seven-floor residential buildings along with walkable retail and green space.
The initial phase of Blocks N-4, N-5, N-8, N-9 and N-11 are bordered by Union, Julia, Church and Clay streets and bisected by Pearl, Beaver and Ashley streets.
Moll, DLP Capital CEO and founder Don Wenner and JWB Real Estate Capital President Alex Sifakis presented the project at a news conference Sept. 20.
JWB initially acquired the majority of the properties that are now in the Gateway Jax portfolio, such as Block N-5, the First Baptist “lighthouse garage” that JWB bought in December 2021.
The Downtown Development Review Board awarded final design approval Dec. 14 for Gateway Jax’s three-block Pearl Street District mixed-use project in the North Core.
The Pearl Street District is the first phase of apartments, retail, restaurant, parking and outdoor space for Gateway Jax.
The portions approved at the meeting are Pearl Street District blocks N-11, Ashley, Julia, Church and Pearl streets; N-8, Beaver, Pearl, Ashley and Clay streets; and N-4, Union, Clay, Beaver and Pearl streets.
The Downtown Investment Authority board voted 7-0 on Nov. 15 to recommend approval of almost $98.58 million in city incentives for the Pearl Street District.