Gateway Jax continues to build up and build-out its Pearl Square project Downtown.
The city is reviewing a permit application for Avant Construction Group of Jacksonville to work on retail shell space on the ground floor of the five-story Pearl Street parking garage at an estimated project cost of $10.52 million.
Also recognized as the lighthouse garage, the property is Block N5 at 721 N. Pearl St., bounded clockwise by Union, Julia, Beaver and Pearl streets.
The project in review consists of an adaptive reuse of the existing five-story parking garage structure to add shell space for future commercial uses, such as restaurant and retail space. Plans show 15,277 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor facing Beaver Street to the south.
The existing parking garage function will remain in the other areas. The egress may be modified as necessary to accommodate all levels of the structure and to add an elevator on the outside.
Plans also show elevator lobby designs for the five floors.
The lighthouse structure remains but the spire will be removed, a new lighthouse light will be provided and the exterior will be painted.
A rendering shows the 1.5-acre block branded Pearl Street District. A placeholder name shows “pub & pizza” as a type of tenant.
Gateway Jax owns the property through 721 Pearl Garage LLC.
The Gateway Jax development is a partnership between lead developer CEO Bryan Moll, DLP Capital LLC and JWB Real Estate Capital.
Developers submitted civil engineering plans to the city Jan. 23, 2025, for the retail space in the parking garage, a little more than two months after the Downtown Development Review Board granted final design approval.
Civil engineer England-Thims & Miller Inc. of Jacksonville sought civil plan review to redevelop the first floor of the existing parking structure for commercial and retail space.
Those plans show five retail spaces totaling 15,300 square feet of space. No tenants are identified.
DDRB granted approval Nov. 14, 2024, for developer Gateway Jax, which has designed the garage with retail storefronts along the Beaver Street frontage and on the corners of Pearl and Julia streets.
Renderings show an addition of a brick-and-glass line of retail shops along Beaver Street, signage on the southwest and southeast corners of the garage, and a geometric painting design on the lighthouse feature, plus new trees and other landscaping.
Union Street is the northern edge and Beaver Street is the southern edge.
The approval came on the condition that the developer continue working with DDRB staff to make the project comply with Downtown district-specific design standards for outdoor furnishings and fixtures, landscaping and streetscape decorations, color combinations and other elements.
Under the Downtown project approval structure, DDRB’s vote constitutes final action on the design.
The garage, formerly owned by the First Baptist Church, features the lighthouse on its northwest corner.
Cyndy Trimmer, partner with the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm, represented the project applicant and presented details of the design. Justin Gravatt and Nicole Renner from Gateway Jax’s development team also took part in the presentation.
Design features include building materials similar to those of the older structures surrounding it in Downtown’s NorthCore district, exterior lighting conducive to the goal of Gateway Jax to be what Trimmer called an “18-hour community,” and a terrace space that could be used for rooftop drinking and dining.
Trimmer said the north and east sides of the building, which do not include retail bays, would be freshened but would remain largely unchanged.
Pearl Square developing
The property is part of the $400 million-plus first phase for Gateway Jax’s Pearl Square.
JWB Real Estate Capital bought the garage in 2022 from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville for $5.924 million.
It bought the site through 712 Hogan St N LLC. The plans are being designed for JWB-affiliated entity, 721 Pearl Garage LLC.
In August 2023, Council approved a $98.58 million incentive package for four blocks of Pearl Square.
For Block N5, the package comprised a $2.57 million REV grant and $1.9 million completion grant.
Gateway Jax partners have acquired 28 acres of Downtown property spanning 24 blocks.
Fully built-out, the project would involve an investment of more than $2 billion and include 1,160 apartments, office space, 120,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space and parking over the next decade.
The developers broke ground on the first building of the project in October 2024.
That seven-story structure, Block N11, is at 515 N. Pearl St. and is designed to comprise 205 apartment units and 24,086 square feet of retail, commercial and storage space. It is targeted for completion in mid-2026.
Moll said in February that plans for the initial Pearl Square project had grown from five blocks to 10.
The city issued a construction permit Oct. 15 for Block N11.
Moll said in February the partners plan to start construction of the next building in April, followed by another start in the summer of 2025.
Those appear likely to be Block N4 and N5.
The city is reviewing an application for the horizontal development of the 1.92-acre Block N4 at a project cost of $1,500. Block N4 is at 441 W. Beaver St., bounded by Union, Pearl, Beaver and Clay streets. It comprises a seven-story building to include at least 281 residential units and about 19,000 square feet of leasable retail and commercial space. It also has a parking garage.
Block N5 appears to be the next.