Bellwether Closing

[Ken_FSU]

This is legitimately as bad as it gets.  Anyone still hanging on to the "Downtown Jax has momentum" line needs to take a look in the mirror. The CBD has hit an all-time low when the only remaining restaurant accommodating the lunchtime business crowd can't even make it.

This one kills me. My first lunch after taking a job downtown was at Bellwether. Have literally had hundreds of meals here since.

There's genuinely nowhere left in the CBD. No Bellwether. No Bread and Board. No Olio. No Zodiak. No Cowford lunch. No Superfood and Brew. No Mags. No Happy Grilled Cheese. No Estrella Cocina.

We need to stop EVERYTHING that we're doing with Southbank hospital hotels and MOSH demolitions and get all hands on deck for the 16-20 blocks in the heart of the city.

There's NO PLAN.

Legitimately, no plan.

Just back-patting because demand for real estate in the CBD is so in the gutter that one entity was able to acquire 40 blocks for pennies on the dollar, and because the area is so blighted that Shad Khan is building a Four Seasons a mile and a half away so his friends don't have to see the true downtown.

We need to be throwing money at Sweet Pete's and Chamblins to keep them from following suit, and we need a plan to pump foot traffic into the CBD 365 days a year.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/dining/2026/03/06/downtown-jacksonville-restaurant-bellwether-closing/89027349007/

[Jones518]

I understand what you are saying but I also feel like the response here is very emotional.

Downtown Jax's restaurant scene is not collapsing it's just going through a reset right now.

There are several success stories to point to in the CBD right now ....

A few examples:
1. Insomnia cookies seems to be doing well.
2. Dorothy's is new and picking up momentum.
3. Pour Taproom and Pizza Dynamo have shown they can be successful drawing crowds on weekends on during sporting events.
4. Starving like Marvin maintain a steady crowd and customer base...
5. Indulgence southern bistro keeps a crowd especially for brunch and during events.
6. Toss green is still there
7.  Indochine is still around
8. Spliffs gastropub is still there.
9.  Take a look at Da Real ting cafe especially on Fridays!!
10. The volstead is still there.

And there's more.


Yes we lost a lot, but we gained some and more are on the way. Several Japanese concepts have been announced with one being in the CBD, Pearl square. A steak house is going in the Greenleaf and Crosby building that JWB just moved their headquarters into.

The reality is that downtown businesses include new concepts, legacy spots, Black-owned establishments, etc. that continue to serve the community. Could we support them better? Absolutely.

Bell Wether could have done better operationally by having more consistent hours. And i heard their food wasn't all that great for the prices.

[jcjohnpaint]

We have a lot of employers leaving the cbd. Residents are coming in, but not yet. I feel like Gateway, once online will be a hell of a boost. But, I agree without prioritizing areas and a master plan, it will take much longer, if at all.

[Jones518]

Yes, I agree that downtown needs a clearer long-term plan for the CBD. But I don't think it's accurate to say it's completely "crashing."

As far as office workers go, the only confirmed employer leaving downtown right now is Citizens Property Insurance. EverBank floated the possibility of leaving, but that appears more like a negotiation tactic with the city than a finalized relocation plan.

At the same time, there are still efforts to bring employers downtown. For example, ICE has been exploring office space in the CBD, and JWB recently relocated its headquarters to the Greenleaf & Crosby Building.

It's also worth mentioning that Jacksonville University recently opened its College of Law downtown in the CBD, which brings hundreds of law students, faculty, and staff into the CBD on a daily basis. While they aren't traditional office workers, they function very similarly in terms of daytime foot traffic... supporting restaurants, coffee shops, and other small businesses.

We also recently saw Ameris Bank open a new branch in the CBD at 200 W. Forsyth with a drive-through concept, which required the city to approve a zoning exception. That's another example of financial institutions/employers continuing to invest in downtown rather than abandoning it.

We're also seeing smaller professional firms invest in the CBD. Kasper Architects purchased and renovated a building at 500 N. Ocean Street to open a downtown studio, which is another example of businesses (although smaller) choosing to reinvest in the CBD rather than leave.

In my opinion, Downtown is in a clear transition period. The model is shifting from a purely office-based district to a more mixed-use environment with residents, students, hospitality, and entertainment alongside office tenants. That transition takes time, which is why I agree that a clear plan for the CBD will be important moving forward.

[Jones518]

I hope DCPS ends up moving to the CBD since their plan to relocate to the southside fell through.


 And I also agree we shouldn't be spending money on demolishing the MOSH or Baptist Health's proposed hotel on the south bank, but we should be using those funds to continue improving the pedestrian experience or just the general experience in the CBD.


Don't forget how we recently two-wayed Adam's and Forsyth streets which should have positive long term effects.

[Ken_FSU]

I understand what you are saying but I also feel like the response here is very emotional.

Hard not to be. Have celebrated countless team birthdays, first-day lunches, work anniversaries, Daddy-daughter office days, and personal events at Bellwether. Have grown to know the wonderful staff over the years, who will now be out of jobs.

Downtown Jax's restaurant scene is not collapsing it's just going through a reset right now.

There are several success stories to point to in the CBD right now ....

A few examples:
1. Insomnia cookies seems to be doing well.
2. Dorothy's is new and picking up momentum.
3. Pour Taproom and Pizza Dynamo have shown they can be successful drawing crowds on weekends on during sporting events.
4. Starving like Marvin maintain a steady crowd and customer base...
5. Indulgence southern bistro keeps a crowd especially for brunch and during events.
6. Toss green is still there
7.  Indochine is still around
8. Spliffs gastropub is still there.
9.  Take a look at Da Real ting cafe especially on Fridays!!
10. The volstead is still there.

From the perspective of someone on the streets in Downtown Jacksonville five days a week, it's not "collapsing." It has collapsed. The central business district is Jacksonville's largest job center in the city. We are a major Southeast market. If a business has a client coming in from New York, or Chicago, or Atlanta, you're not going to take them out to Toss Green, or Insomnia Cookies, or Starving Like Marvin.

Just a couple of years ago, there were numerous options for business lunches in the CBD. Nice, sit down restaurants, many with bars. Now, I believe there are zero. In our city's central business district.

Calling this a "reset" or a "transition period" absolves everyone involved in Downtown's success from responsibility as all of these businesses that took advantage of the DIA's Retail Enhancement Grants run for their lives as their obligations sunset.

Yes we lost a lot, but we gained some and more are on the way. Several Japanese concepts have been announced with one being in the CBD, Pearl square.

This may be a minority opinion, but I don't think Pearl Square is going to easily or quickly fix the problems in the true CBD. Jacksonville has long prescribed to this odd "barbell theory" where we stand up two separate things (Pearl Square and Riverfront Plaza, in this case) and expect infill to magically appear in the middle with no planning or unified approach to the pedestrian experience between them.

As far as office workers go, the only confirmed employer leaving downtown right now is Citizens Property Insurance. EverBank floated the possibility of leaving, but that appears more like a negotiation tactic with the city than a finalized relocation plan. At the same time, there are still efforts to bring employers downtown. For example, ICE has been exploring office space in the CBD, and JWB recently relocated its headquarters to the Greenleaf & Crosby Building.

Citizens pulled 800 employees out of the CBD. Regency Centers is pulling out nearly 300. Everbank is another 700, that - in a perfect world - we'll get the privilege of paying $10 million in private security fees to keep them. That is not a negotiating tactic. That is Everbank doing the city a favor by agreeing to stay, despite years of safety incidents with their staff.

ICE (no comment) renting cheap office space for 40-80 employees and JWB bringing 120 employees downtown (love this one, building looks great) replaces less than 20% of jobs that have left downtown in the last two years.

A steak house is going in the Greenleaf and Crosby building that JWB just moved their headquarters into.

The reality is that downtown businesses include new concepts, legacy spots, Black-owned establishments, etc. that continue to serve the community. Could we support them better? Absolutely.

Bell Wether could have done better operationally by having more consistent hours. And i heard their food wasn't all that great for the prices.

Agreed on all fronts. All new, and remaining, restaurants in the CBD deserve better support. Looking forward to checking out a couple of the spots you noted!

I think I have a fundamentally different opinion of what "support" looks like than most though, and what the most immediate short-term fix to stop the bleeding is, short of an actual plan on the municipal side.

I think we routinely throw every dollar we have into creating more supply - residences, riverfront parks, two-way streets, whatever - and invest almost nothing in creating more demand for the downtown experience.

The VERY best thing that we could subsidize in the short term for all of these businesses is foot traffic. Looking down Laura Street, Mags Cafe, and Wolf & Cub, and Bellwether, and Bread & Board, and Peterbrooke, and Burger & Board, and Estrella Cocina, and Jumping Jax, and Happy Grilled Cheese, and Back to the Grind, and Candy Apple, and all of the others didn't die because they lacked subsidies. They died because they lacked consistent foot traffic.

If I'm the Committee for the Future of Downtown Jacksonville, I'm pausing completion grants on the Southbank and Brooklyn and putting as much money as possible into:

1. A redesigned James Weldon Johnson Park, programmed 300+ days a year with small to mid-sized events
2. Aggressively programming larger monthly events at Riverfront Plaza

Stimulating foot traffic helps almost every problem we have. Retail widens its customer base. Safety improves with more natural surveillance. Increased activity makes residential and office more attractive.

It's not rocket science. We've managed to turn a random highway overpass in Riverside into one of the most active spots in the city.

No universe where JWJP, given its central location, historic significance, and configuration shouldn't be a daily epicenter of life in Downtown Jacksonville.

[Tacachale]

I just performed a marriage for two friends at Bellwether. Definitely a sad one for me personally, but even worse for losing such a resilient and much loved business. Unfortunately the bad decisions and steps backward of the last years mean that recovery is long and hard even with the progress we've been making. We definitely need to do what we can to keep and build up what we have already have especially with the ongoing transition from office to residential in much of the central Northbank core. And I definitely agree that having a more comprehensive master plan will do wonders for that. It's something I personally am working on, in addition to everything else.

[Jones518]

There were over 20,000 people running through Downtown Jacksonville this morning for the Gate River Run. That's a huge amount of foot traffic in the urban core for a few hours.

My question is: how many downtown businesses opened early or marketed specifically to runners and spectators to bring them in?

In my opinion, many downtown businesses struggle to capitalize on major events, high-traffic days, and temporary surges in activity like this. The same thing happens during Jaguars games, concerts, festivals, and other big events downtown.

The demand is clearly there — but for some reason, many businesses fail to translate that demand into actual revenue.

If businesses can survive the slower periods downtown, they should absolutely be maximizing opportunities like the Gate River Run, Jaguars games, and other major events when tens of thousands of potential customers are literally passing by their doors.

[thelakelander]

I believe if we can get to a point where there is consistent traffic to justify small businesses being open on a regular, every day schedule, we won't have to worry about coordination with special events. I still say ridding ourselves of the Landing's consistent business hours, programming and foot traffic was a generational blunder. One that has impacted the ability of other businesses to survive in the core of the Northbank. We'll overcome, but it will be painful and take time.

Anyway, we'll need a coordinated master plan to ultimately address and resolve. No single development, placemaking, tactical urbanism project will fix the situation because everyone continues to swim in different directions, so our resources aren't being used effectively.

[jcjohnpaint]

I just performed a marriage for two friends at Bellwether. Definitely a sad one for me personally, but even worse for losing such a resilient and much loved business. Unfortunately the bad decisions and steps backward of the last years mean that recovery is long and hard even with the progress we've been making. We definitely need to do what we can to keep and build up what we have already have especially with the ongoing transition from office to residential in much of the central Northbank core. And I definitely agree that having a more comprehensive master plan will do wonders for that. It's something I personally am working on, in addition to everything else.

Why are you working on this? I'm sure you would make a great one, but shouldn't DIA create this? This is what they do or should do. Right? Do they assume the master plan Lite made under Boyer is enough? It seems like the DIA presents funding asks to council with priority levels. What are they basing this off?

[Tacachale]

I just performed a marriage for two friends at Bellwether. Definitely a sad one for me personally, but even worse for losing such a resilient and much loved business. Unfortunately the bad decisions and steps backward of the last years mean that recovery is long and hard even with the progress we've been making. We definitely need to do what we can to keep and build up what we have already have especially with the ongoing transition from office to residential in much of the central Northbank core. And I definitely agree that having a more comprehensive master plan will do wonders for that. It's something I personally am working on, in addition to everything else.

Why are you working on this? I'm sure you would make a great one, but shouldn't DIA create this? This is what they do or should do. Right? Do they assume the master plan Lite made under Boyer is enough? It seems like the DIA presents funding asks to council with priority levels. What are they basing this off?

I'm not writing it, lol, just advocating for it. We have an issue of siloing where different authorities have different spheres and do their own planning. That's been a big obstacle to overcome, not only on this.

[Jones518]

.

There's genuinely nowhere left in the CBD. No Bellwether. No Bread and Board. No Olio. No Zodiak. No Cowford lunch. No Superfood and Brew. No Mags. No Happy Grilled Cheese. No Estrella Cocina.

We need to stop EVERYTHING that we're doing with Southbank hospital hotels and MOSH demolitions and get all hands on deck for the 16-20 blocks in the heart of the city.

There's NO PLAN.

Legitimately, no plan.

Estrella Cocina had some of the worst Mexican food in all of Jacksonville....what a waste of such a beautiful rooftop view. I don't see why that space couldn't be reimagined as another rooftop concept. Decca Live's SIP on the Rooftop has been a hit on Bay Street, which shows there's clearly demand for those kinds of experiences downtown.

Cowford Chophouse has also adapted well by leaning into dinner service. Overall, the demand for downtown dining seems to be picking up in the evenings, even if the lunch crowd still hasn't fully returned.

We're also starting to see some new activity, like Dapper D's Restaurant, Lounge, & Bar opening in the former Island Girl Cigar Bar space on Ocean Street. That kind of reinvestment is encouraging and shows there's still interest in activating downtown storefronts. This also reflects the restaurant scene shifting to dinner and evening service.

Breezy Jazz House returning to the north bank along Bay Street is another example of that shift toward Dinner and evening experiences. The owner cited relocating to Bay Street due to the increased foot traffic along Bay Street 🤷- (https://youtu.be/bqJrpTvWnmc?si=0LPeo57IkZhWGmxK )

But yes...coming back to the larger point, we absolutely need a comprehensive master plan for the CBD, along with continued efforts to improve the pedestrian experience and overall vibrancy of downtown.

[jaxlongtimer]

One of the biggest missed opportunities for finer downtown dining is packaging it with the shows at the Performing Arts Center and Arena.  These are the kind of audiences that would patronize finer dining but I see almost no cross marketing.

The River Club runs a package with shuttle for their members for the FSCJ Broadway series and BB's in San Marco is open to midnight capturing both pre-show and post-shown diners based on my experiences (a full house usually so reservations recommended).  These are indications of a market not being fully tapped.

I once tried to get eats at Juliette's back in the Omni days after a show and they closed at 8 or 9 PM.  Lot's of people went there like me but only the bar was serving.  Crazy when only a 1 minute walk from 3,000 patrons at a Broadway show, many parking in the Omni garage.

The lack of cross-marketing dining with our cultural events and institutions (e.g. museums) and making visitor packages with discount admissions is a missed Marketing-101 exercise for Downtown.  Imagine, a package with a sunset water taxi ride, dinner, and a show, and maybe earlier, admission to MOCA to make it almost a full day.  The lack of imaginative marketing is striking and joins the lack of vision and planning for Downtown, generally.

Once again, it is not about millions in incentives... it's about being thoughtful.

[thelakelander]

When the Landing was open, you could have went any day or generally anytime, event or not, and you'd have some options to dine, due to a cluster of activity/programming to at least provide F&B operators with some level of consistent foot traffic.

This is the basic stuff that traditionally has been downplayed or overlooked in all the downtown revitalization talk. Operating a restaurant is already a general high risk investment. Having to dance around with hours dependent on 3,000 people showing up for a random one day or night event makes the operation a higher risk investment. I'm sad to see Bellwether go, but I get it. Business owners still have to pay bills and if the investment is losing money, pulling the plug is understandable.

All the same opportunities mentioned 10-20 years ago still exist. We'll need to be coordinated in our revitalization approach to ensure the existing businesses are around when all the dream projects discussed actually come to fruition 5 to 10 years from now.

[jaxlongtimer]

Having to dance around with hours dependent on 3,000 people showing up for a random one day or night event makes the operation a higher risk investment.

Ennis, you are missing my point.  These opportunities are added bonuses to existing business.  Add them up, and they can be a significant boost to building a steady andn/or increased clientele.  Not expecting this to be a lone source of support.  And, there is 1 + 1 = 3+.  Packaging activities can increase participation in all of them.

Going Downtown for suburbanites just to eat dinner may not be enough of a draw, especially as Jax grows, traffic gets worse, and more options spring up in the suburbs.