The Downtown Development Review Board voted Aug. 14 in support of plans to expand the Pearl Square development with a mixed-use project that includes apartments, a parking garage and a full-service grocery store with a pharmacy.
The board voted 7-0 to grant conceptual design approval for the Gateway Jax development partnership’s Block N7 project, which would replace the former First Baptist Church auditorium at 119 W. Beaver St.
Board Chair Linzee Ott abstained, disclosing that Gateway Jax contributes to Build Up Downtown, the nonprofit advocacy organization where she is CEO.
Plans for the site include a 15-story apartment tower with about 250 units, six levels of parking, a 32,000-square-foot grocery store and 7,000 square feet of other retail space.
Renderings show retail space along Union, Beaver and Laura streets. The block is bordered by those three streets, along with Hogan Street.
Two levels of parking are directly above the grocery and designated for the store’s use. Other parking levels are for the residential units.
Plans also show an expanded sidewalk on Laura Street and trees and landscaping along Laura, Beaver and Hogan streets.
Board member Joanna Berling, principal and Jacksonville office leader for Novus Architects Inc., praised the design.
“Architect to architect, this is a beautiful project,” she told Devon Patterson, principal at project designer SCB.
Ott, noting that members of the Gateway team were involved in the redevelopment of Water Street in Tampa, said she visited that city recently and came away with a feel for what the Block N7 project could become.
“They have a very similar resident grocer in Water Street, and to see how well it fits the neighborhood, with people walking around the ground level, it was exciting to see and understand the context of coming to Downtown Jacksonville,” she said.
Publix operates at Water Street. Gateway Jax has not announced which grocer it will sign as a tenant.
Block N7 is part of the Gateway Jax’s Pearl Square, a $750 million mixed-use development in Jacksonville’s NorthCore. Gateway Jax is a partnership between principal Bryan Moll, JWB Real Estate Capital and DLP Capital.
The Daily Record reported that Corner Lot and JWB Real Estate Capital bought the 103,016-square-foot auditorium built in 1995 and the adjoining parking garage as a joint venture in 2022.
Property records show 712 Hogan Street North LLC bought the auditorium for $2.3 million through 119 Beaver Street West LLC and paid $6.09 million for the adjoining parking garage.
State records list Bryan Moll, principal of the Gateway Jax development team, as a title member of 119 Beaver St W LLC.
In 2022, JWB and Corner Lot spent nearly $750,000 to prepare the auditorium for “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.” The space later hosted the “Beyond King Tut” exhibit.
Corner Lot CEO Andy Allen said in 2022 they named the auditorium NoCo Center after Downtown’s North Core.
In December 2024, the Downtown Investment Authority board endorsed a $2.1 million incentive package aimed at incorporating a grocery store into the Block N7 project. The vote came on a resolution comprising a $1.36 million Retail Enhancement Program grant and a $741,000 Recapture Enhanced Value Grant. The DIA’s vote constituted final action on the incentives, with Jacksonville City Council approval not required.
Gateway Jax’s plans for Pearl Square have grown from five properties and a $419 million investment to nine properties and a cost of $750 million, according to the developer, since the development was unveiled in 2023.
The partnership has since amassed more than 20 Downtown properties which, if fully developed, would involve an investment of more than $2 billion.