The Downtown Investment Authority is redirecting funds to help prepare the long-vacant 1903 church for private redevelopment, aiming to bring new life to the downtown landmark.

In this podcast episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), discusses the significant construction progress in downtown Jacksonville as 2025 unfolds.

Vacancies are on the rise in the heart of Jacksonville, according to Downtown Vision, Inc.’s (DVI) 2024 State of Downtown Report, which was released last week.

This episode focuses on downtown, with Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority.

Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer is frustrated, claiming the DIA’s work is on hold until the Jacksonville City Council decides how the agency will operate.

The head of the group in charge of development and growth in Downtown Jacksonville says the City Council’s efforts to intervene are responsible for more delays in long-awaited projects.

The future of Jacksonville’s downtown is under debate.

A new committee looking at the city agency that’s supposed to bring in development to downtown met for the first time Monday. The question many have now is why downtown development is taking so long and what about the future of the Downtown Investment Authority and its leader, Lori Boyer.

Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer could soon have her contract extended.

This is part of a partnership series between News4JAX and Jacksonville Today.

Downtown development is on the minds of people in Jacksonville.

Due to rising costs, two of the biggest housing developments that were set to be built in downtown Jacksonville are likely never going to happen, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record, News4JAX’s news partner.

After repairs and delays forced it to remain closed for roughly three years, the new and improved Friendship Fountain is set to officially reopen Thursday night.

After repairs and delays forced it to remain closed for roughly three years, the new and improved Friendship Fountain is set to officially reopen Thursday night.

Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said she’s encouraged that the RISE CEO has committed to rebuilding in Downtown Jacksonville after the RISE Doro apartments went up in flames.

When a portion of the parking garage at Ascension St. Vincent’s collapsed this week in Riverside, it brought to light the lack of inspections required for garages across Jacksonville.

The old Jacksonville Landing site is finally getting a makeover. After more than three years of waiting for development, the city of Jacksonville said construction will begin Monday at Riverfront Plaza.

After years of promises and debate, residents could finally start seeing work begin on the old Jacksonville Landing site. A new park will eventually be built on what is now called Riverfront Plaza.

The Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) met on Thursday to talk about how much more money could be needed for projects on both the Northbank and the Southbank, including the area known as the Shipyards and the former home of the Jacksonville Landing, now called Riverfront Plaza.

A plan for new apartments and a restaurant at the site of the old River City Brewing Company on Jacksonville’s Southbank has been delayed even though the old landmark restaurant was torn down.

The USS Orleck has three months to relocate from its current spot at the Hyatt Regency, according to our reporting partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.

There are more questions about the Shipyards site where ground has been broken on a Four Seasons Hotel and other development is taking place along the Northbank.

Some work is underway on the Shipyards project, which involves a new hotel and office building on Jacksonville’s Northbank, but costs have gone up, and all indications are the deal that the Jaguars have with the city is about to change again.

One of the six bids the city received -- from a company called "Carter's" based in Atlanta -- appears to be the clear frontrunner.

Jacksonville is getting a look at what a new development project might look like at and around the old Florida Times-Union building in Riverside.

Jacksonville is one step closer to getting a $400 million riverfront development called the Shipyards. The bill to allow it, and subsidize it with more than $100 million in tax dollars, passed another city council committee Monday.

The DIA wants a restaurant like this one right here to be a part of the first phase of redeveloping this area, which is expected to start next year.

The future of the former home of the Jacksonville Landing is now more clear after a city committee on Thursday selected a Chicago-based design firm to redevelop the Northbank site.

The Downtown Investment Authority on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve $114 million in incentives to help bring Jacksonville Jaguars Shad Khan’s vision of a Four Seasons and other amenities along the St. Johns River to life.

The YMCA at the Bank of America Tower in downtown Jacksonville will close at the end of next week.

On this edition of “This Week in Jacksonville,” Duval County School Board member Warren Jones details changing six school names associated with the Confederacy. Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer talks about two downtown development proposals. And Baptist Health CEO Michael Mayo explains his new role.

Two massive development proposals for Downtown Jacksonville have been in the spotlight this week.

Ground was broken Tuesday for a potentially $600 million project on Jacksonville’s Southbank that was 12 years in the making.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Another development proposal by Jaguars owner Shad Khan has hit a complication. Khan wants to replace Metropolitan Park with a hotel and mixed-use property and proposed the Shipyards property as a replacement for the park. But all hope for the mixed-use development is not lost. Under the current proposal, Khan would build a Four Seasons hotel and a mixed-use development, which would include a destination site medical facility, where the park sits along the Northbank. RELATED: Khan envisions Four Seasons for Jacksonville’s Metro Park siteHe would be the sole developer, according to Jaguars President Mark Lamping.

We look forward to reviewing the submissions come March and wish all interested parties the best of luck.”The RFP selection process will happen on two parts. Part one includes submission of qualifications, which the city will evaluate, score and select three shortlisted design teams to participate in a design competition. In the second half of the process, the three shortlisted design teams will receive a stipend to complete 50% designs where they will showcase their vision for the plaza, including how their design would interface with the future private development. The selected winner of the design competition for the best-qualified design will be invited to negotiate a full professional services design contract with the city, bringing design of the public space to 100%. As such, the city is taking reservations for use of the park between now and December 2021 and hopes to be under construction on the new public space by January 2022.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – News4Jax political analyst Rick Mullaney of Jacksonville University’s Public Policy Institute joins this edition of “This Week in Jacksonville,” which explores the Lot J proposal from multiple angles with Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer, Jacksonville Civic Council CEO and President Jeanne Miller, Urban Land Institute Chair Tarik Bateh, Jaguars Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh and Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury.

The Lot J development will send a big message to the team & NFL. I’m a yes as demonstrated by me introducing Lot J bill to city council. — Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) December 1, 2020Curry started the thread implying that if Jacksonville residents want to remain an NFL city, the Lot J deal would help. The mayor made it clear he supports the Lot J deal and what it stands for. He said the Lot J Development, Jaguars stadium upgrades and the Jaguars’ lease should be negotiated as one deal.

Khan, who bought the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto in 2016, wants to build the hotel where Metropolitan Park sits along the Northbank. During Thursday’s DIA meeting, Lamping said the Lot J development would be a catalyst for additional efforts to revitalize the area. RELATED: Curry & Khan unveil plans for Lot J developmentOriginally, Khan mentioned moving the city’s convention center to the Shipyards site. Meanwhile, the City Council is still debating the merits of the city’s involvement in the Lot J project. The DIA board is set to discuss incentives for Lot J next week.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Plans for construction of a new headquarters for JEA are moving forward. On Wednesday, the Downtown Investment Authority announced it had finalized the sale of a piece of property in downtown Jacksonville to Ryan Companies, the firm hired to build JEA’s new base of operations. RELATED: Learn more about JEA’s choice for new HQ“This is the second major new office building project to close this year,” DIA CEO Lori Boyer said. “We are excited to partner with JEA and the DIA on this exciting project,” said Mike Harryman, senior project executive for Ryan Companies. JEA told News4Jax the groundwork will begin then, followed by vertical construction as soon as October.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A city landmark is about to get another makeover. And this time, you may not recognize Friendship Fountain on Jacksonville's Southbank. A developer has just about finished the design work that calls for a major million-dollar upgrade of the fountain and surrounding park. For decades, Friendship Fountain has been an iconic spot in Jacksonville. But even after spending millions in 2011 for a major renovation, the fountain is still a puddle of its former self and is not working properly.

State Attorney Melissa Nelson on Cure Violence and the Crime Gun Intelligence Center. City Council President Scott Wilson, and Lori Boyer of the Downtown Investment Authority.