JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A mixed-use development that includes self-storage on the Downtown Southbank is in permitting review, more than a year after receiving design and rezoning approvals over opposition from residents, according to News4JAX partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
The 10-story Lofts at Southbank is planned at southwest Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue on the footprint of what is now a defunct restaurant.
The cost of the project was listed at $38.8 million in September 2024 when the Downtown Development Review Board signed off on the final design of the project, the last approval needed before the project could enter the permitting process.
In 2024, News4JAX reported that the 10-story development is expected to be a mix of 100 affordable apartment units, four floors of self-storage and over 130,000 square feet of retail space.
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San Marco Preservation Society Architect Grace Davis said they feel the designers considered their feedback after the development faced heavy criticism during the planning phase.
The project first emerged in 2022 as a self-storage-only development.
“They’ve added some more dimensions to the facade of the building, we’re very happy to see that. It doesn’t look like there’s a mass of concrete facing the streetscape,” Davis said in July 2024. “I think San Marco prides itself on the character of the neighborhood, there’s a lot of ornate details that just add to the charm of San Marco. And sometimes to the average eye, it might not be something you first noticed, but you can just feel it when you’re in the community.”