Currently on Hendricks Avenue, the Salon on the Southbank is expanding it’s footprint and services a block away on Kings Avenue in the newly redeveloped former Redi-Arts
Development Status: Approved
Breezy’s House of Jazz
Starbucks
Starbucks will operate a ground-floor storefront at Bay and Laura Streets in the 42-story Bank of America tower. The coffee shop will also have an entrance directly on the sidewalk as well as seating.
Tavola Trattoria San Marco
Tavola Trattoria is bringing an “upscale yet approachable Italian restaurant blending classic cuisine with modern presentation and local Florida ingredients” to 1037 Hendricks Ave.
The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, serving brunch, lunch, and dinner to a targeted crowd of young professionals, hotel visitors, Downtown residents, weekend diners, and an upper-scale business lunch crowd. Owned by Carl and Lindie Garrett, trattorias are typically casual, family-owned Italian restaurants with homestyle cooking. Tavola San Marco will closely resemble the existing location in Bentonville, Arkansas location with a large menu and a full bar.
It will receive a $135,000 DIA Core Retail Enhancement Program grant. Tavola Trattoria plans to renovate its building at an estimated cost of $600,000. The full 4,500-square-foot renovation would be for the dining room, which includes an open kitchen, a large display pizza oven, and a cocktail bar with seating.
Ambassador Hotel Parking Garage
A dedicated seven-story parking garage will serve the future Ambassador Hotel and Pearl Square. Previously approved as part of a former development attempt, improvements to the garage’s design and functionality were an amendment to a design approved in 2021 for renovation of the hotel. The block is bordered by Duval, Julia, Church, and Pearl streets. Together, the parcels in the block encompass 1.48 acres.
The precast concrete garage will offer 480 spaces for use by the hotel, other Pearl Square properties, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, and the public.
Renderings show the north and west sides of the garage clad with perforated metal and louvered panels that give them a checkered facade. The south wall will be painted with a yet-to-be-designed mural, as future development on the parcel immediately south of the wall is undetermined. The lot abutting the mural will be activated in a passive way in the meantime. The east wall, which abuts the hotel, is unadorned, and will serve as the back-of-house operations side for the hotel.
The garage received final amended approval from the Downtown Development Review Board in June 2025. The DDRB’s vote on the garage constituted final action. Among the board’s purposes, it serves as a version of the planning commission for Downtown on design.
Marriott Jacksonville Downtown
Situated in the heart of Downtown, the luxury hotel connects you with Jacksonville’s most popular cultural and business districts. Relax poolside with dramatic views of the river and skyline or at the J Bar and Juliette’s. With convenient access to EverBank Field, Times Union Center, VyStar Veteran’s Memorial Arena and other popular attractions, the Jacksonville River City Downtown Hotel puts you in the midst of the excitement of the River City.
Announced January 2025: Marriott Jacksonville Downtown received permitting approval for a $6 million facelift for guest rooms and corridors on floors four through 16. Plans show about 154,000 square feet of the 287,000-square-foot hotel will be renovated.
Lofts at Southbank
The Lofts at Southbank is a 10-story mixed-use building with ground floor retail, office, restaurant, or other commercial programming; personal property self-storage uses on floors three through six; and about 100 multi-family residential units on floors seven through 10. The $38.8 million project, led by Jacksonville-based Vestcor, is located at Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue at the site of a closed restaurant at 1004 Hendricks Ave.
AC Hotel Brooklyn
Developer Jax-Lifestyle Hospitality LLC proposed 128 room hotel in the Brooklyn Neighborhood next to their existing Residence Inn. This proposal is for the new construction of a six story hotel with an associated two story parking structure. Investment $32 million.
Southbank Riverwalk
Bordering the St. Johns River, this boardwalk is usually filled with joggers, tourists, folks sitting on benches, and lovers walking hand-in-hand, all of them watching the riverboats, the shorebirds, and downtown’s skyline reflected in the water. Here you can also find the water taxi dock near Chart House available for kayak launch.
About the Southbank Riverwalk Extension:
Approximately 1,900 feet of new riverfront bulkhead; a top of bank extension of the Southbank Riverwalk (approximately 1,900 linear feet); approximately 1,255 linear feet of new boardwalk; approximately 1,650 linear feet of new overland trail; parks with approximately 820 linear feet of river frontage and related amenities; a new water taxi stop; extensions of existing roadways and new roadways with enhanced sidewalks, enhanced landscaping, bike-lanes and on-street parking; and other facilities
Related Apartments and Restaurant
Related Group is planning a new 25-story riverfront tower with no less than 390 luxury units, a minimum 4,000 SF restaurant space, and a 9-story parking garage. The development will also include a 1,000 SF Ship’s Store that will serve the future restored marina. The City will finance the restoration of a 29-slip marina and boat ramp at the site.
Investment: $202 million
Status: Approved by DIA Board, Incentives Package Approved by City Council