The Block Jax permit means the 'Food. Family. Fun' venue can start construction

[thelakelander]

The project is expected to be completed in early 2025.

Kanine Social owner and founder Daniel Moffatt can move to the next phase of The Block Jax in Southside Quarter with a construction permit issued Aug. 23  at a project cost of almost $3.32 million.

With the tagline "Food. Family. Fun.," The Block Jax involves an outdoor food hall, live music venue and play park for children, next to a new Kanine Social dog care facility.

Jacksonville-based Equity Builders LLC is the contractor for the project at 7520 Quarter Mill Road at southeast Gate Parkway and Village Crossing Drive.

The site is in Southside Quarter at southwest Interstate 295 and Butler Boulevard, south of St. Johns Town Center.

Moffatt said The Block Jax will comprise a covered outdoor food hall with eight vendors, a craft beer bar, a fenced-in children's play area called Kids on the Block, a 30-foot-wide LED video wall for football games and movies, and other amenities, including a stage, lawn and arcade games and a golf simulator. Admission will be free.

The website lists the food vendor varieties as breakfast sandwiches, barbecue, pizza, acai bowls, tacos, Asian street food/Thai, ice cream and coffee.

Moffatt thinks the project could generate up to 75 full- and part-time jobs when including those by the food vendors.

Moffatt envisions The Block Jax opening at 9 a.m. daily and closing about 10 p.m., depending on events, such as NFL and college football games carried on the video screen.

Full article: https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/aug/26/the-block-jax-permit-means-the-food-family-fun-venue-can-start-construction/

[WarDamJagFan]

This is great news. There is so little in this town for families to enjoy outside of the beach. And there will be a car wash right next door and self storage across the street! Convenience!

[jaxlongtimer]

Imagine if this type project was built in the urban core...  but it isn't.  Another example of what the competition is for residents.

[WarDamJagFan]

Imagine if this type project was built in the urban core...  but it isn't.  Another example of what the competition is for residents.

Baymeadows is the place to be Longtimer! Fort Family Regional Park is a hidden gym - even Trevor Lawrence and crew were out there on the field this Summer. I absolutely love that new turf field for workouts.
We've got every variety of food - and incredible places to boot like Maa Kitchen, Fast Eddy's, Modu Ramen, etc. The Block is less than 5 minutes from our house so I'll still consider it Baymeadows. I also think that new V Pizza and Steakhouse will be open around the same time. All those locations make fantastic pies and I love their bar concepts. The Urban Core (Northbank specifically), as mentioned previously, is absolutely dead. Plenty of other places around here thriving even if it isn't in a dense, walkable urban environment.

Still severely lacking in rooftop and waterfront options though...

[Zac T]

Imagine if this type project was built in the urban core...  but it isn't.  Another example of what the competition is for residents.

Baymeadows is the place to be Longtimer! Fort Family Regional Park is a hidden gym - even Trevor Lawrence and crew were out there on the field this Summer. I absolutely love that new turf field for workouts.
We've got every variety of food - and incredible places to boot like Maa Kitchen, Fast Eddy's, Modu Ramen, etc. The Block is less than 5 minutes from our house so I'll still consider it Baymeadows. I also think that new V Pizza and Steakhouse will be open around the same time. All those locations make fantastic pies and I love their bar concepts. The Urban Core (Northbank specifically), as mentioned previously, is absolutely dead. Plenty of other places around here thriving even if it isn't in a dense, walkable urban environment.

Still severely lacking in rooftop and waterfront options though...

Funny enough I used to love right by Fort Family Regional Park before I moved to the Northbank. I'm sure for families with kids, there's plenty of things that would make that Baymeadows/Gate Pkwy corridor attractive but as a young dude in my 20's, there was so much that was to be desired. All of my peers would end up driving to the Beach or DT/5 Points anyway if they wanted to do anything beyond your typical suburban affairs.

I do 100% believe that with The Block Jax opening and the massive new park + businesses they're building in Seven Pines, that area will develop into more of a cohesive neighborhood than what it is now but even with all of its problems, moving DT has been an immense boost to my quality of life particularly now that I don't have a vehicle anymore

[Ken_FSU]

By LEAPS AND BOUNDS, the best new spot added to Jacksonville in quite a while.

Not sure if anyone has had a chance to check out the Block for the World Cup, or Love Island nights, or just in general, but place has been popping since it opened.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZiN-nPxn20/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/p/DZDmDbwso_z/?hl=en

Developments like this, with constant relevant programming, are what Downtown Jacksonville is badly missing.

[thelakelander]

^I haven't been there yet, but it makes sense. The concept is simple, but that's never been a problem with downtown. Local politics is what has always muddled the water with downtown stuff.

[WarDamJagFan]

We love the Block. My daughter who's almost 3 was begging to go there on Sunday because ice cream.

And funny to look at these posts from a couple years ago. Sure enough, that whole area is nicely activated. On a recent Wednesday evening, everything between Foxtail/4 Score and V's was completely slammed. Across the street, The Block was packed. Great crowd, lots of families.

[Ned Plimpton]

^I haven't been there yet, but it makes sense. The concept is simple, but that's never been a problem with downtown. Local politics is what has always muddled the water with downtown stuff.

The block supplies almost no parking on their property, so the concept should also be able to work in a downtown setting.

[thelakelander]

^Its just food, drinks, programming and entertainment. Basic stuff when you sit down and think about it. The Landing was a much larger version of it that needed updating and not total abandonment and demolishing. The public markets that were razed in the 1950s, LaVilla's Ashley Street, etc. were other real life examples. So the proof of concept has always been there. Its just the local shenanigans around downtown that screws stuff up and/or makes it much more expensive to pull off.

[fsu813]

^ I was going to make the same point. It's not rocket science, it's a formula.

The same concept behind the Queen Palm project on Main Street in Springfield:
https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2025/06/26/queen-palm-to-bring-beer-garden.html

[Josh]

Went this past weekend for a World Cup game. It was fine. Very bizarre for there to be so much buzz about a place that is basically just one tenth of what The Landing was. Much like all of the new and refurbished parks as of late, these types of places are best served as 3rd places for people that live in the immediate vicinity, and not as destinations for people to travel from all over town for.

[Ken_FSU]

Very bizarre for there to be so much buzz about a place that is basically just one tenth of what The Landing was. Much like all of the new and refurbished parks as of late, these types of places are best served as 3rd places for people that live in the immediate vicinity, and not as destinations for people to travel from all over town for.

To me, it's less bizarre, and more a testament to how much pent-up demand there is for gathering spaces like this in Jacksonville. Which is precisely why people do travel from all over town to the Block, often sacrificing a child in exchange for a parking spot.

Agreed on the Landing offering this in the past, disagree on the current new and refurbished parks offering anything in the same ballpark as the Block in terms of amenities. In my opinion, it is a fatal flaw we are making downtown with the riverfront. So much awesome parkspace, far too little supporting amenities. Riverfront Plaza, Shipyards West, and Metro Park could all be completed to design tomorrow, and they're not moving the needle without event spaces and affordable, diverse, permanent food & bev options.

Also speaks to a desperate need to get going on Lot J. Wider concourses and a roof are not a compelling reason to bring major events to Jacksonville, and nearly $0 of the ~$1 billion we've invested in the sports district to date is going to create 365-day vibrancy for the average Jacksonville citizen.

The Block cost $6-7 million for full build-out. Vertical construction. LED wall & sound system. Stalls. Furniture. You're telling me we can't find $6-$7 million to stand up something similar at Ford on Bay, or the Sports District, or James Weldon Johnson Park, or in the CRA Space at Shipyards West? It is such a key missing piece that almost no one seems to be speaking of as a priority.

[Ned Plimpton]

It was fine. Very bizarre for there to be so much buzz about a place that is basically just one tenth of what The Landing was.

To me, it's less bizarre, and more a testament to how much pent-up demand there is for gathering spaces like this in Jacksonville.

It's more an indictment on how little there is to do on the southside than a groundbreaking project.  Not well run, overpriced, etc..

[Jankelope]

I think the Block is awesome for what it is. I am glad that it is finding success and I hope that it basically just functions as an example of how much demand there is for things like it.

You could build something like it in Mandarin, Orange Park, Downtown, and Beaches and all of them would be busy year round. People want that kind of place.