Gateway Jax announced March 18 it is partnering with The Indigo Road Hospitality Group to redevelop the Ambassador Hotel at 420 N. Julia St.
Gateway Jax bought the hotel in February for $17 million. It is adjacent to its $419 million mixed-use Pearl Square project in Downtown Jacksonville. The purchase included nearby land where a 487-space parking garage is planned.
The hotel opened in 1924 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Plans are to remodel the structure to have a minimum of 100 guest rooms. It will have a high-end restaurant and bar, conference space and other amenities.
The Charleston, South Carolina-based IRHG has established itself as a leader in restaurant and hotel concepts, the release said. The company and its projects have been featured in Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
The company owns and operates O-Ku in Jacksonville Beach and recently announced plans to open Oak Steakhouse in the historic Greenleaf Building in Downtown.
Indigo Road operates in cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, all of which have undergone major redevelopments in their downtown areas, according to the release.
“In the next two to three years, this neighborhood will see a revitalization similar to what has happened in many other markets where we operate,” Steve Palmer, owner of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, said in the release.
“We can’t wait to share our brand of hospitality with even more of our friends and neighbors in the Downtown area through our partnership with Gateway Jax.”
Pearl Square is a 10-block section of Downtown that will have 200,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space, 1,250 residential units and new public spaces. A groundbreaking for the project’s first building at 515 Pearl St. took place in October. It has an expected 2026 completion date. Several other projects within Pearl Square will begin construction in 2025.
“The Ambassador Hotel will be one of the cornerstones of Pearl Square, a world-class development,” Bryan Moll, CEO of Gateway Jax, said in the release.
“We truly believe in the limitless potential within the Urban Core of Jacksonville, and know that partnering with likeminded organizations with a mutual desire to see Downtown continue to thrive can make our dreams into reality.”