Another option has hit the table for the city of Jacksonville’s prospective acquisition of the privately held Interline Brands Inc. building to provide for the University of Florida’s graduate campus in LaVilla.
On May 6, Council member Nick Howland introduced a proposal for the city to purchase the property from its owner, developer Gateway Jax, while offering it right of first refusal on two city-owned riverfront properties on and near the Riverfront Plaza, the former Jacksonville Landing.
Howland’s plan bridges two other recommendations that have emerged for the city to acquire the two-story, 38,136-square-foot building at 801 W. Bay St.
An option supported by Gateway Jax, Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration and the Downtown Investment Authority would provide Gateway with one of the riverfront properties, a 1-acre development parcel at Riverfront Plaza and an option on an adjacent piece of land to the east in exchange for the Interline building.
Under that option, Gateway Jax plans to build a 17-story mixed-use tower on the Riverfront Plaza development pad with a hotel, residential units, restaurants, retail, public spaces and more.
Option No. 2 came from Council member Ron Salem, who proposed an outright purchase of the Interline building for up to $8 million.
Howland said his alternative would be a “quick, easy and efficient” way for the city to acquire the building immediately for UF while giving Gateway Jax an advantage in a competitive bidding process for the riverfront properties.
Howland offered his proposal during the May 6 Council Finance Committee meeting.
Land disposition
The DIA already put up the riverfront land for disposition, the state-required process for putting city-owned land back in public hands, and declared that Gateway Jax was the only responder that submitted a proposal within the deadline.
Contacted after the Finance Committee meeting, Gateway Jax issued a statement noting that riverfront property had already gone through two dispositions. In 2022, American Lions proposed a $166.6 million residential project on the site, for which the DIA approved $36.9 million in incentives. The project died in 2024 because of increased costs, and the DIA canceled a redevelopment agreement with the developer without paying the incentives.
"We do not believe it makes sense to expend further time and City resources issuing a third RFP when there have already been two separate public processes seeking proposals for development on the Riverfront Plaza site," the Gateway Jax statement read. "We are happy to sit down with any Council Members that have questions and walk through all of these details to help clarify any misunderstandings.
"Most importantly, the land swap will in no way hold up the disposition to the University of Florida. The proposed City Council schedule and all necessary meetings and votes aligns with the University's timeline to have students in the 801 W. Bay Street property at the end of the Summer."
Gateway Jax is a partnership between principal Bryan Moll, JWB Real Estate Capital and DLP Capital.
DIA staff is finalizing legislation containing a redevelopment agreement for the land swap to introduce to Council in coming weeks.
That legislation is expected to be considered alongside Salem’s proposed outright purchase, contained in Ordinance 2025-0291, to direct the DIA and Deegan’s administration to purchase the building under an $8 million cap established by a previous piece of Council legislation, Ordinance 2025-0135, which was approved in March.
The disposition involved in the prospective swap required that responders either provide $8 million to the city to purchase the Interline building or provide commensurate space in LaVilla for use by UF, a provision that Salem criticized as not providing a level playing field for all prospective developers.
Howland said his proposal would allow the city to put the properties back up for disposition at its convenience while following UF’s timeline for the graduate campus. UF plans to invest $7 million into retrofitting the Interline building for its educational purposes and launch classes there in the fall of 2025.
Describing the benefits of his proposal, Howland said: “What that does for the city is allow maximum value of those two waterfront parcels and gives Gateway the option to match any offer if they want. There’s value in that option, and that value is in return for Gateway’s wonderful partnership in conveying 801 and allowing us to move forward with UF, and in everything else they’re doing in the city.”
Gateway Jax says its overall proposed more than $2 billion development pipeline “spans 25 city blocks of high quality, mixed-use development in the Urban Core of Downtown Jacksonville and includes over 5,000 multifamily units and 500,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.”
Properties for UF
The Interline building, which Gateway Jax bought in October for $4 million, is one of five properties the city aims to immediately convey to UF for the campus. The others are the historic Jacksonville Terminal rail station, the attached newer portions of the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center and its parking lots, and two empty pieces of land directly north and northeast of the train station.
On April 21, the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee voted unanimously to allow the DIA to submit legislation on the land exchange and the other four pieces of property to Council.
Later, the city also wants to provide a property owned by multifamily developer Vestcor along Bay Street adjacent to the convention center parking lot.
An appraisal obtained by the DIA in March placed the value of the Interline property at $6.75 million. The city values the two city-owned parcels together at $5.02 million.
Proponents of the exchange say it promotes the DIA’s mission to place dozens of city-owned Downtown properties back on the tax roll and will help facilitate private development that will attract visitors and residents to Downtown’s historic core.
In addition, Moll and his partners have committed to providing $700,000 for maintenance and programming of the Riverfront Plaza park, which is under construction on the western half of the former Landing site, through a hotel room surcharge and an HOA fee on condo units.
Opponents say the exchange favors Gateway Jax over the city and, despite what supporters say, would come at a cost to the city in the form of financial incentives that would be sought by Gateway for the tower development.
Moll told the DIA that the project would require $20 million in completion grants, among other incentives.
Under Salem’s option, the city’s payment for the building would be replenished in the fall of 2025 when municipal utility JEA makes its annual contribution to the city budget. JEA is finalizing plans to provide a record amount, including a $40 million one-time infusion.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include Gateway Jax's statement and additional information.