The Jacksonville Planning Commission voted Oct. 9 to recommend approval of requests from Corner Lot Development Group for rezoning and a land use amendment for a proposed hotel in Riverside.
With 7-0 votes, the commission endorsed ordinances 2025-0495 and 2025-0496, which would allow Corner Lot to build a 125-room hotel and parking garage adjacent to its headquarters at 1000 Riverside Ave.
The hotel and parking garage are planned on two parcels that together encompass 1.75 acres at 860 Riverside Ave. and 1000 Riverside Ave. Plans show a 0.15-acre surface parking lot at 1049 May St. as part of the hotel project.
Commissioner Ali Marar was not present for the vote, and one seat on the nine-member Planning Commission is vacant.
Ordinance 2025-0495 would change the land use on the combined 1.9-acre parcels from Residential-Professional-Institutional (RPI) to Community/General Commercial (CGC).
RPI is a mixed-use category primarily for office, institutional and medium-density residential uses. CGC allows retail sales and services, including general merchandise, apparel, food and related items. General commercial uses include offices, highway commercial, entertainment and similar other types of commercial developments, according to the city ordinance code.
Ordinance 2025-0496 changes the zoning to Planned Unit Development (PUD) from a PUD approved in 2017. A PUD is a special zoning district that allows for a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses within a single district.
According to a staff report from the city Planning and Development Department, the new PUD allows for the hotel use and other CGC uses.
Among other elements, the PUD allows for an 80-foot maximum height of the project, which exceeds the CGC district standard of 60 feet, and also allows for the parking garage to front May Street without an intervening building or landscaped open space, which is required in zoning regulations specific to the Riverside-Avondale neighborhood. A 10-foot landscape buffer and sidewalks a minimum of 8 feet wide will be required along May Street.
In addition, the PUD allows for exceptions to required side and rear setbacks. Reduced setbacks from Riverside Avenue are allowed to facilitate outdoor dining.
A minimum of 255 parking spaces would be required as well as an on-site loading area.
The proposed hotel is at northwest Post and May streets neighboring the Corner Lot headquarters to the west, across a new entrance. The parking garage would be built south of the hotel.
The lot at 1049 May St. would remain surface parking. It is adjacent to parking for the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens and a residential quadplex, offices and apartments.
In 2022, Corner Lot purchased the building at 1000 Riverside Ave., which was then the Summit Tower. The 130-foot tower was built in 1963.
It features River & Post, which operates a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop lounge. The eight floors in between feature office uses, including Corner Lot’s headquarters.
At present, the development uses surface parking. The planned parking garage would increase the amount of parking on-site to accommodate the existing tower and new hotel, plus additional public parking.
Commercial real estate attorney Cyndy Trimmer, who represents Corner Lot, said Oct. 9 that a brand that will operate the hotel has not been chosen.
Trimmer said Corner Lot wasn’t certain if it would own the property once a brand was selected. The Daily Record reported in July that the brand would be Marriott or Hilton.
The Planning and Development Department recommended approval with a condition that a traffic study be undertaken following approval of the PUD.
With the Planning Commission’s endorsement, the rezoning and land use amendment ordinances advance to the Jacksonville City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee.