The Downtown Development Review Board is set to consider final design approval for Pearl Square Block N7, the Publix-anchored mixed-use development planned on the site of the former First Baptist Church main auditorium.
On Aug. 14, DDRB granted conceptual approval with conditions for the project, plans for which include a full-service Publix, retail spaces, a parking garage and residential tower.
Renderings submitted to the DDRB for final approval show an altered storefront for the Publix, which was announced as Pearl Square’s grocer tenant Sept. 3. Final renderings show an altered window design at Hogan and West Beaver streets.
Gateway Jax, the developer of Pearl Square, is set to meet with the DDRB staff for a deviation workshop Oct. 9 before the full DDRB meeting that same day, regarding a requested deviation pertaining to the ground floor transparency requirements.
The Downtown city overlay requires that “at least 50 percent of each new or re-constructed building facade, between the height of 2 feet and 10 feet above the sidewalk or Riverwalk grade shall be transparent.”
In the Publix design, the window space in the rendering doesn’t take up 50% of the exterior facade, Gateway Jax land use attorney Cyndy Trimmer said.
However, exceptions are allowed for buildings where the space is unique to Downtown properties, there is a security concern or the space must be protected from light, or “the design of the exterior facade incorporates living walls, murals or other facade treatments that would engage the pedestrian in the space where transparency would be required.”
“The need for a deviation arises solely from the unique challenges presented with incorporating a grocer into an urban environment,” Trimmer wrote to the DDRB.
“Unlike traditional commercial space, the construction methodology and floor plan for a full-service grocer must account for distinct food health and safety guidelines, strict temperature regulation requirements, and extensive operational needs.”
The property is about 1.5 acres and is bordered by Union, Beaver, Hogan and Laura streets.
Conditions attached to DDRB’s conceptual approval were that Gateway Jax would work with DDRB staff to coordinate site furnishings, hardscaping and landscaping; ensure compliance of demolition of the auditorium building; coordinate with city departments to ensure consistency with design standards; and support enhanced pedestrian connectivity along Hogan Street and the Emerald Trail.
DDRB staff recommended those conditions carry over to final approval.
DDRB staff also recommended that Gateway Jax be required to provide an art installation or something similar along the ground floor of the building facing Hogan Street and Union Street.
Pearl Square is 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.
Since Pearl Square was unveiled in 2023, Gateway Jax’s plans for it have grown from five properties and a $419 million investment to nine properties and a cost of $750 million, according to the developer.
The partnership has since amassed more than 20 Downtown properties that, if fully developed, would involve an investment of more than $2 billion.
