Downtown Development Update Part I: Projects rising

More than a dozen projects are under construction or recently completed in Downtown Jacksonville. Here’s a look at where some of them stand.


  • By Ric Anderson
  • | 12:00 a.m. March 14, 2025
  • | 4 Free Articles Remaining!
The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences, left, and One Shipyards Place, the six-story future headquarters of the Jacksonville Jaguars are under construction March 12 south of EverBank Stadium.
The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences, left, and One Shipyards Place, the six-story future headquarters of the Jacksonville Jaguars are under construction March 12 south of EverBank Stadium.
Photo by Monty Zickuhr
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The effort to revitalize Downtown Jacksonville yielded successes in late 2024 and early 2025 in the form of project completions, new construction starts and progress at worksites on the Northbank and Southbank.

Downtown visitors can see crane booms in the air and heavy equipment on the ground from the Sports and Entertainment District to Brooklyn and spaces in-between, including the historic core. 

At the same time, headwinds emerged as Citizens Property Insurance Corp. announced plans to move hundreds of workers from Downtown to South Jacksonville, adding to an office vacancy listed by Downtown Vision Inc. at 28% at year-end 2024.

Then came uncertainty over the fate of federal offices Downtown as the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency announced possible closures of office buildings and termination of leases. 

Mayor Donna Deegan said her administration was watching the situation closely and was preparing to find offices Downtown for any displaced federal employees. 

“Obviously, we want to encourage as many people to be Downtown as possible,” she said. 

Here is an update on some of Downtown’s public and private projects.

Four Seasons Hotel and One Shipyards Place

Topping-off was Jan. 17 for One Shipyards Place, the six-story office building under construction by Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments across Gator Bowl Boulevard from EverBank Stadium.

One Shipyards Place is near the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences.
NAI Hallmark

Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2026.

The 10-story Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences building is expected to top off this year and a signature restaurant is in review for the top floor.

Also, work is nearing completion on a bulkhead for the new marina, followed by demolition of the old marina.

The cost for the vertical construction of both structures totals $254.3 million, growing to almost $260 million with the marina support project.

Demolition work was underway March 10 at EverBank Stadium which is being transformed into the Jacksonville Jaguars "Stadium of the Future."
Photo by Monty Zickuhr

Stadium of the Future

Demolition began in March on EverBank Stadium’s pedestrian bridges, escalators and staircases as the process to transform the facility into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Stadium of the Future progressed.

The $1.4 billion stadium project is on a timeline for completion in August 2028, with the team playing in EverBank at a reduced capacity in 2025 and 2026 before playing in Orlando or Gainesville in 2027. 

The renovated historic Union Terminal Warehouse is now open at 700 E. Union St. near Jacksonville's Eastside and Everbank Stadium. It is being leased for apartments, offices and retail units.
City of Jacksonville

Union Terminal Warehouse 

The historic warehouse building reopened March 6 as a $73 million mixed-use redevelopment with mixed-income housing, offices and retail units.

Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures spent more than six years bringing the 361,169-square-foot building back to life. 

The building, constructed in 1913, is at 700 E. Union St.

Music and dance venue Decca Live is at 323 E. Bay St., between Market and Liberty streets.
Photo by J. Brooks Terry

Decca Live 

After a $3.31 million renovation, the Decca Live music and dance venue at 323 E. Bay St. held a grand opening Jan. 31. 

The renovated building features a ground-floor dance floor and bar, a second-floor wraparound walkway and bar, and a rooftop bar. 

The former JEA headquarters campus at 21 W. Church St., 421 Laura St. and 21 E. Church St.

Former JEA headquarters

In February, JEA issued a request for proposal seeking bids for its former headquarters campus. 

The property includes the 19-story office tower at 21 W. Church St., the six-story customer service center and the Adair Building parking garage with street-level retail space.

The selection criteria for the RFP hint at possible office-to-residential use of the property, saying respondents will be rated based partly on economic benefits of their proposals on such factors as capital investment, job creation and housing units. 

The 340-unit Artea is at 944 Broadcast Place on the Downtown Southbank.
Photo by Monty Zickuhr

Artea apartments

A grand opening was held March 11 for the Artea transit-oriented apartment complex near the Kings Avenue parking garage on the Southbank. 

The $96.9 million multifamily property includes studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, a 425-space parking garage, a swimming pool and other amenities.

Lofts at Cathedral comprises the restored historic former YWCA, built in 1950, at 325 E. Duval St., and an adjacent new building at 327 E. Duval St.
Photo by Dan Macdonald

Lofts at Cathedral

A ribbon-cutting was held in December 2024 for the $26 million 120-unit multifamily property at 325 and 327 E. Duval St. The project included a $5.45 million renovation of the YWCA building, which was built in 1949. 

Toll Brothers has model homes open at RiversEdge: Life on the St. Johns on the Downtown Southbank. The property is the former JEA Southside Generating Station that was demolished more than 20 years ago.
Photo by Monty Zickuhr

RiversEdge 

The $693 million RiversEdge mixed-use development continues to take shape, with DIA CEO Lori Boyer reporting that the riverwalk and some of the more than 4 acres of public parks are expected to be completed as soon as April.

Pennsylvania-based Toll Brothers construction began vertical construction on town homes in the development in 2024, and some are now on the market.

RiversEdge is on the former JEA Southside Generating Station power plant site on the Southbank. 

Vertical construction is underway at Pearl Square, the $419 million Pearl Street District, which covers five blocks in Downtown’s NorthCore district. This block is bounded by Beaver, Pearl, Ashley and Clay streets.
Photo by Ric Anderson

Gateway Jax

Construction is underway on Gateway Jax’s first project, the seven-story Block N11 mixed-use building in the block bordered by Pearl, Julia, Ashley and Church streets.

Principal developer Bryan Moll says work will begin in the coming months on two other buildings.

Gateway Jax’s Block N11 is a seven-story building at 515 N. Pearl St. that will comprise 205 apartment units and 24,086 square feet of retail, commercial and storage space.

Among other Gateway Jax news, the development group purchased the block containing the Ambassador Hotel and Central National Bank, and announced plans to redevelop Downtown’s NoCo Center with a full-service grocery store.

The Block N11 building is the first tower under construction in the historic core since the new JEA headquarters tower, a private project that was completed in 2023 with the intent of having the city-owned utility as a tenant.  

Tthe University of Florida graduate campus planned Downtown in LaVilla. The campus is planned surrounding the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center.

UF campus/Riverfront Plaza

The University of Florida announced in December 2024 that it had chosen LaVilla as the site of its proposed graduate center campus in Jacksonville, setting into motion a plan for the city to provide five properties for the site.

Among them, the city is proposing to swap a 1-acre development pad at Riverfront Plaza and an option on an adjacent parking lot to Gateway Jax, the owner of the Interline Brands Inc. building at 801 W. Bay St., for use by UF.

City Council member Ron Salem has proposed an alternative plan to buy the building outright. 

An aerial view of Riverfront Plaza, the former site of the Jacksonville Landing, is under construction in Downtown Jacksonville.
City of Jacksonville

Riverfront Plaza park

Jacksonville’s Haskell design and construction firm continues work on the first phase of plans to transform the site of the demolished Jacksonville Landing into a park. 

The initial $32.5 million phase calls for such features as a pavilion building with a rooftop playground, a flexible event lawn and space connecting the plaza with the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts. 

Riverfront Plaza will include a lawn area shown in this rendering.




 

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