Gateway Jax is preparing to install an entryway fountain at the Porter House in its Pearl Square district Downtown.
The city is reviewing a permit for Aquatica Pools & Spas LLC of North Charleston, South Carolina, to construct the fountain at an estimated project cost of $332,500.
Jacksonville-based Gateway Jax says the fountain is within Porter House Garden.
The permit specifies the Porter House Mansion is at 515 N. Pearl St., within Gateway’s Block N11 that is bounded clockwise by Ashley, Julia, Church and Pearl streets.
Porter House Mansion is on the east side of the block, with Gateway Jax’s 205-unit Vandeveer apartment building under construction on the west side.
Eric Shullman, Gateway Jax senior vice president, said May 22 by email that the Porter House Garden, which includes the fountain, is under construction as part of the Vandeveer project.
He said Vandeveer will open in late summer.
“The fountain is designed to be a welcoming gateway into the Pearl Square neighborhood and an iconic piece of daily life in the district — a meeting point to gather with friends before dinner, a place for parents to sit and linger beneath the sounds of the water while children play in the adjacent park, or just a serene, shaded moment on a morning stroll for coffee,” Shullman said.
“Porter House Garden and the fountain are just some of the many details big and small that we have woven into Pearl Square to create a walkable, amenitized neighborhood in downtown.”
That name refers to Thomas Vandeveer Porter, whose historic Porter House Mansion east of the building is part of Gateway Jax’s $750 million-plus Pearl Square district.
The Porter House Mansion, built in 1902, is owned by JWB Real Estate Capital, an ownership partner in Gateway Jax.
JWB Real Estate Capital, led by President Alex Sifakis, paid $2.6 million in August 2020 for the three-story, almost 16,000-square-foot historic structure.
Vandeveer was Gateway Jax’s first project to start construction, with groundbreaking in October 2024. Jacksonville-based FaverGray is the general contractor, with civil engineering provided by Jacksonville-based England-Thims & Miller.
The city issued a construction permit in October 2024 for Block N11 to include a seven-story building comprising 205 apartment units and 24,086 square feet of retail, commercial and storage space.
Retail leasing is led by Colliers’ Urban Division, and the new proposed parks are designed by Hoerr Schaudt.
DLP Capital and JWB’s Downtown Fund are the primary investors.
Jacksonville City Council approved a $9.06 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant and a $4.63 million completion grant for Block N11 in 2024. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement.
The city of Jacksonville issued a permit Sept. 30, 2025, for modifications for parks north and south of the Porter House Mansion. FaverGray is the contractor for the $2.43 million parks project at 510 N. Julia St.
The work involves exterior site work, renovations to the north parking lot and to the south lawn, and the fountain addition.
There also are exterior egress modifications to the building facade along with exterior building lighting.
Plans show the South Porter Park at Julia and Church streets and the North Porter Park at Julia and Ashley streets.
Robbins Design Studio of Jacksonville is the architect.
In February 2022, Council awarded $669,581 in taxpayer forgivable and deferred loans to JWB Real Estate Capital to renovate the Porter House Mansion.
Sifakis said the original architect was Henry John Klutho, who helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville after the Great Fire of 1901 destroyed Downtown.
Council designated the Porter House Mansion, known as the Thomas V. Porter Residence, as a local landmark. A Jacksonville Planning and Development Department report called it “the last grand home in Jacksonville’s Downtown” that is a “significant visual reminder of the city’s historical and architectural heritage.”