Downtown Jacksonville experienced gains in private investment in 2024, attracted an increased number of visitors and starts 2025 with more than 2,000 residential units under construction and plans for 500-plus additional hotel rooms in development.
But the residential population dipped, visitorship still fell short of pre-pandemic levels and the Downtown workforce shrank while office vacancy increased significantly.
Those are among the details of the 2024 State of Downtown Report by Downtown Vision Inc., which provides an annual status check on the decades-long effort to revitalize the heart of Jacksonville.
Presented to the DVI board Nov. 20, the 40-page report includes economic data; survey results; demographics, public and private investment updates; and more information about Downtown’s eight districts.
DVI’s mission includes promoting Downtown locally and beyond, organizing events and activities to invigorate the core, and providing maintenance, trash pickup, security and hospitality through its Downtown Ambassador program.
The nonprofit is funded mostly by Downtown property owners through a self-assessment.
In anticipation of the release of the report, DVI CEO Jake Gordon sat down with the Daily Record for an hourlong interview Oct. 24 regarding the methodology and philosophy behind the report.
“This is not supposed to be an advocacy document. It’s supposed to be a look at what’s happening,” he said, noting that DVI doesn’t withhold warts-and-all information such as the rise in office vacancy rate.
He said DVI obtains the data for the report from numerous sources, such as Visit Jacksonville for tourism and hotel stats and Placer.ai and CBRE for commercial office information, but also collects portions of the report by monitoring local media sites and other sources.
DVI has refined its research over the years to make it more accurate, Gordon said, including by shifting to a new method for determining Downtown’s resident count to ensure that the Duval County jail population wasn’t included.
Gordon acknowledges that there’s skepticism around the report, including on the monetary amounts of investments in Downtown, but he defends the numbers.
If a project has been announced in the media, discussed publicly, is somewhere in the approval process or has received approvals yet has not launched, it’s likely to be included.
“Tie goes to the runner,” Gordon said. “We are going to err on the side of putting more in.”
Here is a look at some of the highlights of this year’s report, and how they were compiled.
Investment
The report shows $8.775 billion of development “in the pipeline,” including $465 million completed since 2023, $2.23 billion under construction, $3.46 billion in review and $2.62 billion proposed.
The total includes several well-publicized, high-profile projects, such as the $1.4 billion makeover of EverBank Stadium into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ “Stadium of the Future,” $387 million Four Seasons and companion office tower, and $250 million One Riverside mixed-use development on the site of the former Florida Times-Union building.
The almost $8.8 billion figure amounts to a $702 million increase over the investment figure in the 2023 report.
In several cases, the developments counted in DVI’s calculations are projects that have come online recently or are visibly making progress, including the nearly completed $39 million Lofts at Cathedral apartments in Cathedral Hill, $24 million Home2 Suites in Brooklyn and $96.9 million Artea at Southbank apartments.
In other instances, the report includes projects that were approved but not launched, or which appear to have been abandoned.
A map of projects “in the pipeline” includes the Ambassador Hotel and Independent Life Building, for example.
Both of those projects were undertaken by the same developer, Augustine Development Group, which was approved for public financial incentives to resurrect the buildings but is no longer working on them.
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said in early 2024 that Augustine was in default of redevelopment agreements on the buildings, and in September a foreclosure suit was filed against Augustine on the Ambassador.
Those could be described as “zombie” projects, and others like them are in the report. Examples include the $166 million American Lions tower, a proposed 44-story high rise near the Main Street Bridge that, according to Boyer, had fallen victim to rising construction costs and difficulties in obtaining financing due to high interest rates.
Other projects in DVI’s report include the $178 million Laura Street Trio adaptive reuse, the subject of more than a decade’s worth of start-and-stop negotiations between the owner and the city.
In the most recent chapter of the saga, the city announced it was permanently cutting off talks with the owner, Steve Atkins of SouthEast Development Group, and refiled a lawsuit accusing him of failing to pay more than $800,000 in fines for code violations on the long-vacant buildings.
Then there’s the $450 million Ergisi Tower, which local developer David Ergisi unveiled in mid-2024. That project, which is sited on a parcel near the footprint of the seemingly dead American Lions tower, would be the tallest building between Miami and Atlanta but is subject to scrutiny over whether it’s feasible.
Among the issues it faces, the development would likely require relocation of a 54-inch sewer line at a cost of millions of dollars, and removal of an exit off the Main Street Bridge.
Gordon acknowledged that except for the projects either completed or under construction, there was judgment involved in whether to include them in the investment totals.
DVI’s philosophy, he said, was to count them unless they had been officially terminated by the city or developer.
Such cancellations are rare. Developers aren’t known to hold news conferences saying projects are dead, and the city doesn’t often formally announce it is terminating development agreements.
In recent years, projects that had received approval for incentives from the city stalled when high interest rates and rising construction costs made them financially unattractive for developers.
In several cases, those projects technically are still on the books.
“We’re not going to be the arbiter of how real (a project) is,” Gordon said.
He was asked for an itemized list of the projects that DVI lists as being in review or proposed. As of press time, the information had not been made available.
Residential
The 2024 report shows Downtown’s multiresidential population at 7,657, down from 7,695 last year.
The number of units increased to 4,707, up from 4,619 in 2023.
The report shows one residential property partially opening since the 2023 report. That is the Johnson Commons town homes in LaVilla, where 12 of 91 units had been sold as of the report date.
The report lists 2,052 units under construction. They include the 390-unit Artea and 120-unit Lofts at Cathedral, both of which are nearing completion, and the 220 units in the Union Terminal Warehouse adaptive reuse project. The city has declared that project substantially complete.
Thirteen multifamily developments are listed as being reviewed, totaling nearly 3,000 units.
Taking into account the combination of units under construction and in review, the report says: “Downtown’s population is set to surpass 10,000 soon. This growing residential base is essential to its continued success, driving demand for businesses, services and amenities that foster a vibrant urban environment.”
According to survey results published in the report, 89.2% of Downtown residents said that they liked or loved living in the core. Residents reported walkability, bikeability, waterfront access and the midtown atmosphere as the best elements about living Downtown, while they cited panhandling, empty storefronts and a lack of retail as the worst.
Gordon said DVI’s formula for determining residential population is based on self-reported information from multifamily properties on occupancy rates, which is then multiplied by an industry-standard ratio of individuals per unit.
Office
Like the cores of other metro areas, Downtown Jacksonville’s office market continues to struggle with vacancy brought on largely by remote-working policies lingering since the pandemic.
But Downtown’s portion of empty offices is significantly higher than that of other Florida cities, the report shows.
In 2023, Downtown offices were 26.1% vacant, compared with 17.6% in Downtown Miami, 14.5% in Tampa, 12.4% in St. Petersburg and 11.8% in Orlando and the Brickell area south of Downtown Miami.
Downtown Jacksonville’s vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 28%, the report showed, higher than the 21.9% rate in the suburbs.
The number of employees working Downtown was listed at 53,450, a decrease from the 53,600 listed in last year’s report.
One sale from 2024 was listed among the top five commercial office purchases in the last five years.
That transaction was for 1 Independent Drive, formerly the Wells Fargo Center, which was purchased in April by a New York City-based limited liability company led by the CEO of Argentic Investment Management LLC.
“Looking ahead, nearly 400,000 square feet of new office space is planned in developments such as RiversEdge, The Shipyards, and Union Terminal Warehouse,” the report stated.
“Spurred by robust investment in multi-family, hotel, and retail projects, Downtown’s office market is poised to bounce back, ensuring it remains a vital part of the city’s economic future.”
Of Downtown workers, 73.6% said they liked or loved working Downtown. That was down from 84.4% in 2023. The report said 52.7% work in their office full-time, while 41.3% work on a hybrid basis.
The workers listed the best elements about working Downtown as waterfront access, restaurants and walkability/bikeability, and the worst as panhandling, empty storefronts and lack of restaurant options.
Visits
Visits to Downtown rose to 18,056,829 in 2023, up more than 300,000 over 2022 and edging closer to the 2019 figure of 22,879,102.
Gordon said the visitation numbers for Downtown do not include residents or office workers who routinely commute to their jobs.
Hotel nights increased by more than 20,000 in 2023 over 2022, to 552,948.
The occupancy rate edged up to 62.4% from 61.9%, and the average daily room rate increased to $151.07 from $143.74.
Events drew 4.05 million visitors, including 1.65 million for 167 sporting events.
Nearly 650,000 people came for the 624 concerts held that year, with 726,849 attending 55 festivals.
The report shows 641 rooms under construction or in review. They include the Four Seasons, the proposed AC Hotel by Marriott in Brooklyn, a proposed 200-room boutique hotel at the RiversEdge: Life on the St. Johns development on the Southbank, and a Marriott Bonvoy Autograph Collection property that has long been part of the stalled Laura Street Trio redevelopment in City Center.
Regarding info for the number of people Downtown – office workers, residents and visitors – Gordon said Placer.ai had been helpful for DVI’s research.
The online tool is based on information from cellphones, including a user’s location and duration at that site.
Retail
Downtown offers 1.2 million square feet of retail space, the report states, with a market asking rate of $20.39 per square foot.
Four retail establishments are listed as having opened in 2024: Cereal Bar Live, Cinco de Mayo Mexican restaurant, Degree Wellness and Toon Town Pickleball.
The list includes six restaurants that opened in 2023 and were not included in that year’s State of Downtown Report.
“Since 2020, 38 new retail stores and restaurants have opened, with more than 20 additional locations announced,” the report states.
“A number of locations are currently under construction including Baby Got Brunch, Co-op Frosé & Eatery, Decca Live,
, Pour Taproom and Prudential Club Garden, Lounge & Liquors with many more in permitting review.”
Gordon said Downtown has seen a 107% recovery rate in retail since 2019, not counting the 20 announced locations. An example of those locations is the Whole Foods planned as part of One Riverside in Downtown’s Brooklyn area.
“I thought there was potentially a chance that Downtown has kind of flattened,” Gordon said. “But it really has not.”
Gordon said the perception that Downtown’s retail has stagnated is based partly on news of some establishments closing, such as Burrito Gallery in February 2024 and Jumpin’ Jax House of Food in March.
“Things open, things close, it happens all the time,” he said.
“There are certain signature projects – Jumpin’ Jax is one – where people focus so much on those. It’s kind of like how people focus on plane crashes and don’t realize how many planes are in the air at any given time, which is some unbelievable number.”
“So I feel like we try to be unbiased and just count up what has opened and (proposed),” he said.
Gordon said public focus on Downtown also tends to be on what has been branded as CityCenter, the core that includes City Hall, James Weldon Johnson Park, Riverfront Plaza, the Laura Street Trio, etc.
He said openings and construction in Downtown’s other seven districts, which stretch from Brooklyn to the Working Waterfront east of the Sports & Entertainment District, can be relatively unnoticed or be discounted as Downtown development in public perception.