Pearl Street District development downtown clears major hurdle, gains council approval

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A major downtown project that is so far nearly a year in the making cleared a big hurdle at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

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“It’s in an area that’s had a lot of underinvestment over the years,” Bryan Moll, the CEO of Gateway Jax, said.

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Council members unanimously approved nearly $39 million from the city’s general fund and nearly $60 million in grants. It will help Gateway Jax get the project off the ground in four different blocks along Pearl Street.

“This is really going to get Jacksonville to the place that it needs to,” Council Member Jimmy Peluso said Tuesday night.

The overall project includes a more than $400 million total investment in the area and will bring more than 1,000 residential units, restaurants, and shops. Most of the blocks are currently empty parking lots and a garage.

“In many ways, that gives us the perfect canvas because we are able to do something large and upscale,” Moll said.

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The first building could break ground as early as October and will eventually be a 6-story building with residential and mixed-use on the bottom floor at the corner of Church and Pearl Street.

After that, a 22-story skyscraper will be built in the block to the west of Pearl Street in between Beaver and Ashley Street. The so-called “lighthouse garage” which once belonged to the First Baptist Church will be transformed and include more retail and a restaurant on the first floor.

Another 6-story building will be built across the street from the garage. Overall, Moll said the district will bring up to 2,000 people living in the area and will all surround an event space he called Pearl Square.

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“If you can imagine streets full of life. With lots of people out walking around. Walking their dogs. Sitting out having a cup of coffee in the morning,” Moll said.

The first building could be ready for neighbors to move in in under two years. Gateway Jax is in talks with different hotel groups to eventually bring a hotel to the district in the next phase of the project.

“That investment doesn’t just stop with our project. Because of what we’re doing, it will help bring other new residential buildings downtown,” he said.

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