Landlord Acram Group is investing almost $1 million in a 20th-floor tenant lounge and its ground-floor fitness center at the 28-story Riverplace Tower on the Downtown Southbank.
The city issued permits May 5 for the $672,000 project to add an amenity center and $282,800 to upgrade the fitness center.
LAY Construction of Jacksonville is the contractor for the project at 1301 Riverplace Blvd. along the St. Johns River and Riverwalk.
Hoefer Welker is the architect.
The 4,716-square-foot lounge project includes a golf simulator, kitchen and seating areas and a collaboration room.
The Daily Record reported in April that Travis Fulton Golf will open a teaching studio in the space. Fulton’s first is at 14797 Philips Highway.
The fitness center is an improvement to the existing gym.
In September 2023, Acram announced the updates.
It said it would make the 20th floor an amenity floor with a sky-level tenant lounge. The floor had been a mechanical floor, so Acram is creating new usable space.
Acram said it will include a tenant lounge with a wet bar and high-top seating that looks across the St. Johns River to EverBank Stadium, as well as an open kitchen area, the conference area and the golf simulator. The space faces the river to the north and east.
The ground-level gym, which faces the riverfront, is available to office tenants. Acram said it would add new equipment, updated exercise classrooms, televisions and screens, and make other improvements. It will have outdoor access. It doesn’t use a third-party operator.
The permit for the lounge was submitted in October 2024 and the fitness center in November 2024.
Acram Group, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and its partner, Oak Hill Advisors, said in January 2022 they intended to spend more than $10 million to renovate the Riverplace Tower, which they bought Dec. 22, 2021, for $72.3 million.
They bought and own the property through 1301 Riverplace Owner LLC.
Ameris Bank is the anchor tenant and has its name on top of the tower.
The Class A riverfront tower was built in 1966-67 for Gulf Life Insurance Co’s headquarters. Before the purchase, it last was renovated in 2019.
Acram and Oak Hill bought the 460,000-square-foot property, which included a 765-space, five-story/10-level parking garage and a 2.2-acre, 238-space surface parking lot on the Riverplace Boulevard side of the neighboring DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Jacksonville Riverfront.