Jacksonville City Council member Kevin Carrico says that in talking with people about the Gateway Jax development Downtown, they would often ask if he had been to Water Street in Tampa.
It was a logical question given that Bryan Moll, principal of Gateway Jax, had led the Tampa development.
For years, Carrico’s answer was no. That changed when he made a visit over Memorial Day weekend.
“I took that walk, right around the bend in front of the water and then up Water Street, and saw all this mixed-use, all this retail, all these people, all this energy,” he said.
“And it just felt amazing. Five years ago, I would have made that walk and I would have been jealous. But that wasn’t my state of mind when I took that walk. It was, ‘We are getting something like this in Jacksonville. And I’m so happy and excited that it’s coming here.’”
Carrico, who was elected Council president-elect May 27, described his experience during a May 29 groundbreaking for the second project in Gateway’s Pearl Square development.
The mixed-use building at 425 Beaver St. will include 286 multifamily units, nearly 20,000 square feet of retail space and on-site parking, according to the developer.
Previously known as Block N4, the site is bordered by Beaver, Clay, Pearl and Union streets.
It is northwest of Gateway’s first construction site, 515 Pearl St., which broke ground in October 2024. That block is bordered by Pearl, Ashley and Church streets and the Porter Mansion property.
City Council approved a $14.1 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant and a $6.84 million completion grant for 425 Beaver St. and a $9.06 million REV grant and $4.63 million completion grant for 515 Pearl St.
Gateway Jax said that together, the two projects would include about 500 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail space.
The groundbreaking drew Mayor Donna Deegan, Carrico, Council President Randy White and Council members Raul Arias, Ken Amaro, Rahman Johnson and Chris Miller. DIA board members and CEO Lori Boyer also were on hand, along with other top city government administrators.
“This moment represents far more than the construction of a single building,” Deegan said. “It’s about building momentum, and that is what we have right now. It’s about building community. And most importantly it’s about building a future for our city that reflects the bold, inclusive and vibrant Jacksonville that we all want to see.”
Pearl Square comprises nine city blocks, a portion of the 25 total that have been acquired for the Gateway Jax development.
Gateway Jax is a partnership between Moll, JWB Real Estate Capital and DLP Capital LLC. The partners’ land holdings for the project span 32 acres, which if fully built-out would be a $2 billion investment.
During an interview, Moll said plans call for construction to begin in fall 2025 on a vacant lot that is known as Block N8, immediately south of 425 Beaver St.
For that part of the development, Council approved a $33.88 million REV grant and $25.55 million completion grant for a minimum 21-story building with at least 508 residential units and about 30,000 square feet of ground floor leasable retail space. The block is bounded by Beaver, Pearl, Ashley and Clay streets.
Moll said that a September 2025 construction start is planned for a parking garage on the block of the former Ambassador Hotel and Central National Bank buildings, which Gateway purchased in March 2025.
That 1.48-acre property comprises the block bordered by Duval, Julia, Church and Pearl streets.
At the time of the purchase, Moll said the Gateway partners planned to renovate the Ambassador back into a hotel and would resurrect the Central National Bank building with residential and commercial space.
During the interview, Moll said the next project in line for construction after the Ambassador/CNB parking garage was Block N5, which will renovate and add restaurant and retail space to the parking garage bounded by Union, Julia, Beaver and Pearl streets. That property is known as the “lighthouse” garage for the decorative tower feature on its northwest corner.
In April, the Daily Record reported that the city was reviewing a permit application for Avant Construction Group of Jacksonville to work on retail shell space on the ground floor of the five-story garage at an estimated project cost of $10.52 million.
Other Pearl Square properties include Block N9, a warehouse immediately north of 515 Pearl St. that will be demolished to make way for an office-and-retail building, and the NoCo Center at 712 N. Hogan St.
According to DIA documents, Gateway plans to redevelop that property into a 16-story building including 250 multifamily units, a structured parking garage with about 400 spaces, and 38,000 square feet of retail space.
The retail space would include 31,500 square feet for “a leading, full-service grocery store.”
Moll said May 29 that an announcement on the grocer was forthcoming, possibly in as little as a week.
The property is the former First Baptist Church’s main auditorium. As the NoCo Center, it was the venue for “Beyond Van Gogh” and other exhibits.