With nine sites now under construction in the Pearl Square neighborhood, Gateway Jax continues to make progress on its highly anticipated $750 million makeover of Downtown’s NorthCore area.
At its April 9 meeting, the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) announced Marriott has agreed to operate the newly renovated Ambassador Hotel as part of its indie Tribute Portfolio brand. The hotel will be called the Hotel Merrydelle, honoring local arts pioneer Merrydelle Hoyt, one of four women who founded the Jacksonville Fine Arts Society, which later became MOCA.
Originally built in 1924 as luxury apartments, the Ambassador operated as a hotel from 1943 until its closure in 1998. Now, renovations are expected to start late summer and last about a year, with the 109-room boutique hotel opening by fall 2027.
Gateway Jax also confirmed that Merrydelle will feature an intimate 120-seat Italian restaurant called Colletta, where restaurateur Steve Palmer of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group aims to replicate the concept he operates in Atlanta. The menu will include wood-fired pizzas, house-made pasta and antipasti along with spritzes, Italian wines and seasonally inspired cocktails.
That news followed the March unveiling of the neighborhood’s first residential building – the Vandeveer, a 205-unit apartment building at 515 Pearl Street, expected to welcome residents later this year. The name pays homage to Thomas Vandeveer Porter, who owned the Porter House Mansion on Julia Street, which Henry Klutho designed and built in 1902 after the Great Fire.
The Vandeveer will also include 22,000 square feet of retail space, with Gateway Jax recently confirming JETSET Pilates® as a tenant.
One of JETSET’s neighbors will be a chef-driven Japanese restaurant concept by Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which currently operates O-Ku at Jacksonville Beach. Fresh seafood, wood-fired offerings off the robata grill, sushi and sashimi will be on the menu.
In January, ground broke on 721 N. Pearl Street, where an existing parking structure is being converted into a multi-use structure with 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space. Meanwhile, the neighborhood’s flagship tenant and retail anchor – a 31,000 square-foot full-service Publix at 119 W. Beaver Street – is in the design phase according to a Publix spokesperson.
A rendering depicts the incoming Publix, Pearl Square’s flagship tenant and retail anchor.
“Securing Publix as our grocery anchor was another major milestone – it’s a critical piece of making this a neighborhood people can rely on day to day,” said Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll. “We’re seeing strong interest from both regional and national retailers. That level of demand reinforces what we’ve believed from the start: Downtown Jacksonville is ready for this kind of investment.”
Beyond the concrete and rebar, Pearl Square’s aesthetics are also starting to take shape. Gateway Jax announced a call to artists for a series of murals and sculptures that will be incorporated throughout the neighborhood, with artist commissions starting at $25,000.
Applications were due late last month, with “priority consideration given to local and regional artists with experience in large-scale public art, demonstrating strong visual impact and execution, and feel integrated, human-centered, and rooted in Jacksonville’s identity.”
In addition to everything that is already under construction, six more sites are preparing to break ground: a six-story office building at 655 Pearl Street – Downtown’s first new office in decades according to Moll – which will have approximately 100,000 square feet of workspace and 25,000 square feet of street-level retail, is targeting a 2027 groundbreaking and 2028 completion. Moll said approaching current market realities, particularly where office space and retail is concerned requires a “grounded” approach to how people live, work and spend their time.
“Developing 655 Pearl, the first new downtown office in decades, reflects a real opportunity there’s demand for well-located, high-quality office space that’s part of a broader, amenitized environment,” Moll said.
Other planned developments include an acre of public gardens, parks, and green spaces concentrated around the historic Porter Mansion, another large parking garage on Hogan Street with retail and restaurant space, and 394 luxury rental units and 150 furnished short-term rentals at 440 W. Beaver Street.
With the combination of retail, residential, restaurants and office space in Pearl Square, residents will have what Moll has referred to as an “18-hour Downtown” that will generate energy during the day and into the evening.
“Along Beaver Street, we’re transforming an existing garage into a new retail corridor designed for a more walkable, pedestrian experience,” Moll said. “At the same time, spaces like Porter House Lawn, Garden, and Klutho’s Alley are being designed as everyday gathering places. That mix of people living, working, and spending time in the same place is what creates the kind of downtown that feels active from morning through evening.”
Pearl Square by the Numbers
Total Density: Two million square feet
Residential Units: 1,250+
Retail Space: 200,000 square feet
Office Space: 60,000 square feet
Hotel Keys: 110
Parking Spaces: 2,200+
Open Space: 1 acre
Source: Gateway Jax