Gateway Jax is cleared to start work on the ground floor of the “lighthouse” parking garage Downtown to make space for stores and restaurants at its Pearl Square project.
The city issued a permit Jan. 6 for ShayCore LLC of Jacksonville to add shell space for future commercial use in the five-story garage on 1.5 acres at 721 N. Pearl St. at a project cost of $8.96 million.
The project consists of an adaptive reuse of the structure, known as Block N5 and bounded clockwise by Union, Julia, Beaver and Pearl streets. Plans show commercial space on the ground floor facing Beaver Street to the south.
The existing parking garage function will remain in the other areas. The egress may be modified as necessary to accommodate all levels of the structure and to add an elevator on the outside.
Plans also show elevator lobby designs for the five floors.
The total square footage of the work area is 26,728 square feet, comprising the ground floor, elevator and space on the top four floors.
Engineering Consulting Services, also known as ECS Florida LLC, of Jacksonville provided private plan review. Bold Line Design LLC of Jacksonville is the architect.
The garage, formerly owned by the First Baptist Church, features the lighthouse on its northwest corner.
The lighthouse structure remains but the spire will be removed, a new lighthouse light will be provided and the exterior will be painted.
Gateway Jax owns the property through 721 Pearl Garage LLC.
The Gateway Jax development is a partnership between lead developer CEO Bryan Moll, DLP Capital LLC and JWB Real Estate Capital.
Developers submitted civil engineering plans to the city Jan. 23, 2025, for the retail space in the parking garage, a little more than two months after the Downtown Development Review Board granted final design approval.
Civil engineer England-Thims & Miller Inc. of Jacksonville sought civil plan review to redevelop the first floor of the existing parking structure for commercial and retail space.
Those plans show five retail spaces totaling 15,300 square feet of space. No tenants are identified.
DDRB granted approval Nov. 14, 2024, for developer Gateway Jax, which has designed the garage with retail storefronts along the Beaver Street frontage and on the corners of Pearl and Julia streets.
Renderings show the addition of a brick-and-glass line of retail shops along Beaver Street, signage on the southwest and southeast corners of the garage, and a geometric painting design on the lighthouse feature, plus new trees and other landscaping.
Union Street is the northern edge and Beaver Street is the southern edge.
The approval came on the condition that the developer continue working with DDRB staff to make the project comply with Downtown district-specific design standards for outdoor furnishings and fixtures, landscaping and streetscape decorations, color combinations and other elements.
Under the Downtown project approval structure, DDRB’s vote constitutes final action on the design.
Cyndy Trimmer, partner with the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm, represented the project applicant and presented details of the design. Justin Gravatt and Nicole Renner from Gateway Jax’s development team also took part in the presentation.
Design features include building materials similar to those of the older structures surrounding it in Downtown’s NorthCore district, exterior lighting conducive to the goal of Gateway Jax to be what Trimmer called an “18-hour community,” and a terrace space that could be used for rooftop drinking and dining.
Trimmer said the north and east sides of the building, which do not include retail bays, would be freshened but would remain largely unchanged.
Pearl Square developing
The N5 project is part of Pearl Square, Gateway’s $750 million, multiproperty development in the NorthCore area of Downtown.
JWB Real Estate Capital bought the garage in 2022 from First Baptist Church of Jacksonville for $5.924 million.
It bought the site through 712 Hogan St N LLC. The plans are being designed for JWB-affiliated entity, 721 Pearl Garage LLC.
In August 2023, Council approved a $98.58 million incentive package for four blocks of Pearl Square.
For Block N5, the package comprised a $2.57 million REV grant and $1.9 million completion grant.
Pearl Square is part of a larger development that, if fully built-out, would be a $2 billion investment over 32 acres.
It would include 1,160 apartments, office space, 120,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space and parking over the next decade.
Publix Super Markets Inc. intends to open in Block N7.