If it's been a few years since you've visited downtown Jacksonville, then its growth may stun you.
There's currently $2.46 billion under construction and an additional $3.65 billion proposed or in review, according to Rachael Wyant, director of research for Downtown Vision, a nonprofit group focused on downtown revitalization.
A Four Seasons Hotel & Residences is under development, along with an expanded Museum of Science and History, a renovation to EverBank Stadium that's being called "the Stadium of the Future," and a new graduate campus for the University of Florida.
The downtown's bright spots and challenges are part of the recently released 2024-25 State of the Downtown Report from Downtown Vision. The report is published every year and a half.
Here are a few other nuggets from the report — and how they have an impact on the changing look of downtown Jacksonville.
The downtown's residential population is about 9,000, but there are more than 3,000 additional units in development. The number of residents has increased by about 50% in the past five years.
The growth in residents is spurred by construction in areas such as LaVilla, Southbank and One Riverside Avenue.
Jacksonville's office vacancy rate in second quarter 2024 was 28%, compared with nearly 22% in the suburbs. This reflects office vacancy rates that have increased across the U.S., with changes in how and where people work, Wyant says. The Downtown Investment Authority continues to target occupancy growth by incentivizing new leases with a commercial revitalization program to cover parking expenses for tenants who enter new lease agreements, Wyant says.
Downtown received 8.9 million visitors from July 2023 to June 2024, a 3.9% year-to-year increase. A $14.6-million upgrade to the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel Jacksonville Riverfront (and a name change to become Hotel Bellamy) and a $6-million renovation to the Marriott Jacksonville Downtown will add to tourism expansion.
New parks, more residential units and additional retailers will contribute to downtown's growth over the next 18 months. That includes a Whole Foods as part of the One Riverside development in the Brooklyn neighborhood and a Publix that will be part of Gateway Jax's Pearl Square.
Shifting interest rates and high construction costs can put pressure on projects, but the large-scale projects actively under construction point to continued growth in downtown, Wyant says. — By Vanessa Caceres