JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gateway Jax broke ground Wednesday on 721 North Pearl Street, launching work to convert an existing parking garage into a retail-oriented anchor that will help form a new pedestrian shopping corridor along Beaver Street in the Pearl Square neighborhood.
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The redevelopment will add about 16,000 square feet of activated ground-floor retail and restaurant space and is designed to reactivate a long-dormant shopping experience in downtown.
Gateway Jax said it is working with the City of Jacksonville and the Florida Department of Transportation on streetscape upgrades for Beaver Street that will include bike lanes, new sidewalks, enhanced paving materials and upgraded landscaping.
The streetscape improvements are intended to create a direct link between the project and roughly 20,000 square feet of retail now under construction at 425 Beaver Street to the west and a future Publix to the east.
The existing structure, bordered by Union, Julia, Beaver and Pearl streets, will be modernized to serve as a centralized parking amenity for the Pearl Square neighborhood. Its upper floors will retain 693 parking spaces and receive contemporary upgrades, including new lighting and an exterior elevator. Gateway Jax expects delivery in early 2027.
“Reviving the shopping experience in Downtown Jacksonville is a key part of the Pearl Square neighborhood,” Bryan Moll, CEO of Gateway Jax, said. “This project, a true public-private partnership, would not have been possible without the support of the City of Jacksonville and its residents. Redeveloping this iconic garage will create true value for the city, with a positive return on investment through additional property and sales taxes, and bring a vibrant, mixed-use community to life in the heart of downtown: one that balances the pedestrian experience with one-stop parking convenience.”
The garage conversion is one of five groundbreakings in Pearl Square, a transformational mixed-use development spanning nine city blocks in downtown Jacksonville.
Upon completion, Pearl Square is planned to deliver more than 1,250 residential units, about 200,000 square feet of retail, a 100-room boutique hotel, widened and shaded sidewalks, new public parks and a signature curbless festival street with abundant outdoor dining. Gateway Jax estimates the full buildout of its holdings will total roughly $2 billion in capital investment over the next decade.