State of Downtown report shows population on the rise, office vacancy stuck at above-average level

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The new version of the annual State of Downtown report says Downtown Jacksonville’s residential population surpassed 9,000 in 2025, while office vacancy remained well above the national average and the levels of several Florida metros.

Released April 29 by Downtown Vision Inc., the 2025 report says Downtown’s population reached 9,228 in 2025, up 287 residents from the figure in the 2024-25 report and 1,571 from 2023.

Jake Gordon, CEO of DVI, attributed the increase to residents moving into several multifamily projects that came online during 2025. Those include Artea (330 units), One Riverside (225 units in the first phase), Union Terminal Warehouse (228 units) and Lofts at Cathedral (120 units).

Artea Apartments connects the Jacksonville Transportation Authority San Marco Skyway station, the Southbank Riverwalk and pedestrian trails in Downtown Jacksonville.

The 2024-25 report, which covered January 2024 through June 2025, also included move-ins to those projects.

Gordon said that while DVI’s report generally covers calendar years, staffing constraints left the organization unable to complete a 12-month 2024 report. The staffing issues were resolved, including with the hire of a new researcher, allowing DVI to return to producing a 12-month report this year.

The new version of the annual State of Downtown report says Downtown Jacksonville’s residential population reached 9,228 in 2025, up 287 residents from the figure in the 2024-25 report and 1,571 from 2023.

For office vacancy, the 2025 report cited CBRE data showing that 27.4% of Downtown office space was vacant during the fourth quarter of that year. That compared with 25.7% in the 2024-25 report, which used data from the third quarter of 2023.

The 2025 rate was higher than the national rate of 18.5% and above any Florida city cited in the report, including downtown Miami (17%), Orlando (13%), St. Petersburg (7.6%) and Tampa (10.2%).

The annual State of Downtown report, released April 29, 2026, says office vacancy in Downtown Jacksonville remained well above the national average and the levels of several Florida metros.

Visitation to Downtown, as measured by cellphone data, was reported at 19.7 million in 2025, up from 19.45 million in 2024. The increase in 2025 was driven partly by an uptick in the number of reported events and attendees, with 3,195 events in 2025 compared with 2,990 the previous year. Attendee figures were reported at 5.37 million in 2025, up from 4.87 million in 2024.

Among other figures for 2025, DVI reported:

500,000 square feet of new retail space is in review or under construction Downtown, with an additional 15,000 square feet proposed.
Three new parks drew 96,000 visitors during the first month after they came online. They are Riverfront Plaza, the playground at St. Johns River Park and the Parks at RiversEdge.
A Downtown workforce of 46,833 employees.
$809 million in development and redevelopment projects completed in 2025.

DVI reported $809 million in development and redevelopment projects completed in 2025.

DVI is a not-for-profit that supports Downtown through such means as marketing, events, research and its Downtown Ambassadors program, which performs such duties as cleaning sidewalks and providing directions to visitors.

DVI is funded primarily by a self-assessment of Downtown property owners.