The partnership behind the Pearl Square development in Downtown Jacksonville gained another step June 26 toward its goal of turning nine vacant properties in the city’s historic core into a vibrant area for shopping, dining and living.
On a 7-0 vote, the Downtown Development Review Board approved the final design of a parking garage planned by the developers on an empty lot immediately west of the Ambassador Hotel, 420 N. Julia St.
The vote came on an amendment to a design approved in 2021 for renovation of the hotel.
Gateway Jax, the developer of Pearl Square, submitted a design for a precast concrete garage with 480 spaces for the hotel, other Pearl Square properties, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and public.
Renderings show the north and west sides of the garage clad with perforated metal and louvered panels that give them a checkered facade. The south wall will be painted with a mural, the design of which has not been determined.
The east wall, which abuts the hotel, is unadorned.
Gateway Jax comprises principal Bryan Moll, JWB Real Estate Capital and DLP Capital LLC.
The developers purchased the Ambassador and the entire block surrounding it in February 2025 with plans to restore the six-story building as a hotel. The building, constructed in the 1920s, has been vacant for decades.
Moll told the DDRB that Gateway planned to start construction on the hotel in the first quarter of 2026.
In the same purchase, Gateway acquired the Central National Bank building, which neighbors the hotel to the south.
Moll told the DDRB that he and his partners may redevelop that property as an extension of the hotel with additional rooms and event space.
Asked about plans for a lot abutting the bank building to the west, Moll said it tentatively will be the site of a high-rise residential building.
The block is bordered by Duval, Julia, Church and Pearl streets. Together, the parcels in the block encompass 1.48 acres.
Pearl Square started as a five-property, $419 million development. It has grown to nine properties and a cost of $750 million.
Cyndy Trimmer, a representative for Gateway, said that as the development evolved and expanded, the need for more parking became evident.
The DDRB’s vote on the garage constituted final action. Among the board’s purposes, it serves as a version of the planning commission for Downtown on design.