JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A long-awaited grocery store and high-rise apartments are coming to Downtown Jacksonville.
The Downtown Investment Authority approved a public-private partnership for the N7 block of the Pearl Square development.
“We couldn’t be more excited,” Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll said.
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The plans for the project include a 15-story apartment building, and those housing units are expected to bring about 2,000 new residents to downtown.
But it also brings a Publix grocery store, with over 400 parking spaces above the store.
New grocery stores have helped other cities draw more people to their downtown areas.
“We have viewed the grocery store as potentially one of the most important, if not the most important thing that we can do both for our project and downtown,” Moll said.
Moll said that successful downtowns are not built on office space alone.
“I think it’s been demonstrated in a lot of other cities, but to have a truly thriving downtown, you need good jobs and office space, which we have, but then you also need people living downtown,” Moll said.
And those residents, he said, will need everyday amenities.
“People that are going to shop, that are going to dine, go out to eat, and also buy groceries,” Moll said.
That grocery store will not only help downtown residents but also address food insecurity in nearby neighborhoods like Springfield and North Market Street.
The project is expected to break ground next year, and it could be finished as early as 2028.
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