Gateway Jax Buys Another Block

[acme54321]

In what seems to be a weekly announcement these days, Gateway Jax has acquired yet another block downtown. 

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/jul/08/jim-and-ellen-wiss-sell-nine-downtown-properties-to-gateway-jax-for-75-million/

[MakeDTjaxGre@tAgain]

lol ikr. Apparently it's their last in that part of DT unless something good comes up. Maybe the Barber Academy? Would be interested to see what they do next or if they focus on closer to the river. Cathedral district needs TLC imo.

[MakeDTjaxGre@tAgain]

Wonder if Gateway Jax project would generate DT demand enough to build something on a Pendry, One Tampa scale? Are we that far behind Tampa?

[acme54321]

What would really be amazing for downtown is if they could pick up the remaining blocks along Main at State and Union.  That Chevron/Shell/Cell Phone tower situation is janky as hell.

[Jax_Developer]

I'm sure it's matter of time considering a local church owns nearly two entire blocks there.

[heights unknown]

lol ikr. Apparently it's their last in that part of DT unless something good comes up. Maybe the Barber Academy? Would be interested to see what they do next or if they focus on closer to the river. Cathedral district needs TLC imo.

What's the status of the hotel/residential tower on the 1.0 acre pad at Riverfront Plaza? Is that still a go or is voting by council next?

[JaxGator22]

17-1 vote in favor of the land swap.  Interline to UF and the landing parcel to Gateway.

[Zac T]

Wonder if Gateway Jax project would generate DT demand enough to build something on a Pendry, One Tampa scale? Are we that far behind Tampa?

On a vibrancy scale, we are where Tampa was in the early 2010's. Small pockets of activity but overall very sleepy and 9-5. However on a wealth scale, we are way behind the entire Tampa Bay Area. The amount of wealth that has flooded into Tampa, St Pete, and Sarasota since 2020 is significant and is fueling the luxury condo boom they're experiencing. Jax just doesn't have that

We do have a few luxury projects in the works that aren't anything to sneeze at. The Four Seasons (which Tampa still doesn't have), Related's Southbank Tower will command the highest price per square foot in the Downtown residential market (should it happen), and Gateway's proposal for Riverfront Plaza will have a 4 or 5 star hotel with branded condominiums.

The Ford on Bay, Berkman II lot, and the empty lot between the YMCA and Haskell all come to mind as prime parcels should the market get to a point where it could support a luxury high-rise project like Pendry or One Tampa

[Jax_Developer]

Wonder if Gateway Jax project would generate DT demand enough to build something on a Pendry, One Tampa scale? Are we that far behind Tampa?

On a vibrancy scale, we are where Tampa was in the early 2010's. Small pockets of activity but overall very sleepy and 9-5. However on a wealth scale, we are way behind the entire Tampa Bay Area. The amount of wealth that has flooded into Tampa, St Pete, and Sarasota since 2020 is significant and is fueling the luxury condo boom they're experiencing. Jax just doesn't have that

We do have a few luxury projects in the works that aren't anything to sneeze at. The Four Seasons (which Tampa still doesn't have), Related's Southbank Tower will command the highest price per square foot in the Downtown residential market (should it happen), and Gateway's proposal for Riverfront Plaza will have a 4 or 5 star hotel with branded condominiums.

The Ford on Bay, Berkman II lot, and the empty lot between the YMCA and Haskell all come to mind as prime parcels should the market get to a point where it could support a luxury high-rise project like Pendry or One Tampa

Emphasis on the wealth factor. The median household income in DT Tampa is 3x higher than DT Jacksonville. For reference, the household median income for Downtown Tampa is comparable to that of Ponte Vedra Beach. Tampa seems to have a ton of available wealth.

[heights unknown]

Wonder if Gateway Jax project would generate DT demand enough to build something on a Pendry, One Tampa scale? Are we that far behind Tampa?

On a vibrancy scale, we are where Tampa was in the early 2010's. Small pockets of activity but overall very sleepy and 9-5. However on a wealth scale, we are way behind the entire Tampa Bay Area. The amount of wealth that has flooded into Tampa, St Pete, and Sarasota since 2020 is significant and is fueling the luxury condo boom they're experiencing. Jax just doesn't have that

We do have a few luxury projects in the works that aren't anything to sneeze at. The Four Seasons (which Tampa still doesn't have), Related's Southbank Tower will command the highest price per square foot in the Downtown residential market (should it happen), and Gateway's proposal for Riverfront Plaza will have a 4 or 5 star hotel with branded condominiums.

The Ford on Bay, Berkman II lot, and the empty lot between the YMCA and Haskell all come to mind as prime parcels should the market get to a point where it could support a luxury high-rise project like Pendry or One Tampa

Emphasis on the wealth factor. The median household income in DT Tampa is 3x higher than DT Jacksonville. For reference, the household median income for Downtown Tampa is comparable to that of Ponte Vedra Beach. Tampa seems to have a ton of available wealth.

Well, we just have to see it all for what it really is; regarding Ocala south to Key West versus North Florida, NF will never compare or win. I think Jax will get much better than where we're at now, downtown that is, but we will never even approach anything south of Ocala. Why don't they just throw a vote out there for North Florida to be a separate state. North Florida is so much different than the rest of the state. I think the population of North Florida is about 4 million. We'd rank about 30th. That's respectful LOL.

[jaxlongtimer]

Well, we just have to see it all for what it really is; regarding Ocala south to Key West versus North Florida, NF will never compare or win. I think Jax will get much better than where we're at now, downtown that is, but we will never even approach anything south of Ocala. Why don't they just throw a vote out there for North Florida to be a separate state. North Florida is so much different than the rest of the state. I think the population of North Florida is about 4 million. We'd rank about 30th. That's respectful LOL.

Not sure I agree on this.  If you look at ocean front, as Florida's population has boomed over the decades, there has been a somewhat predictable pattern of population and wealth movement, expanding up the Atlantic coast from Miami Beach and over to the Gulf coast.  You now see that wave washing over our beaches' communities with new, record setting sales prices and rapid appreciation, approaching values found in points south of here.

At some point, even with the messy Downtown leadership in Jax over the decades, that tidal wave will make it here as the last outpost in the State that hasn't been fully exploited, making it a value proposition that developers simply cannot ignore.  In some ways, Gateway appears to be looking at that future down the road, not what is today.  They have the vision that Downtown leaders are lacking.  It is also why I and others keep pushing for preservation of more public land on our waterfront.  Not for today, but for 20 and 30 years or more out.

The trickle is already evident, not only on our coastline, but also in our suburbs.  St. John's County is one of the wealthiest counties in the State already and the luxury stores at Town Center all seem to be thriving.

For Downtown, it really is not a question of if, but when.  How far out before the demographic wave hits our shores?  Yes, poor leadership has slowed or delayed its arrival but eventually the dam will break in spite of that.