Construction crews continue building Phase 1 of Riverfront Plaza. The foundations for a cafe with rooftop garden and other parts are underway. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on February 10, 2025 at 2:36 pm
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The first in a string of new Downtown riverfront parks along the St. Johns River is set to open by the end of this year, a sign that the resurgence of Downtown has begun, city officials said Monday.
As construction workers continue to build Riverfront Plaza, city leaders said the park’s second phase will begin as soon as the first part is done. Plans are crystallizing on a hotel and residential building at east side by the Main Street bridge.
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Riverfront Plaza is one of several projects that city officials held up Monday as signs that the resurrection of Downtown is progressing after decades of stagnation.
“After years of really sort of feeling like we are stuck when it comes to this kind of progress, cranes in the air is what we love to see and we have cranes going up all over the place,” Mayor Donna Deegan said at news conference near Riverfront Plaza’s future cafe.
Deegan announced a new city campaign and website, I Dig Jax, to help keep citizens updated on the scope and progress of all the city’s pending riverfront projects.
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“It is hard for everybody to know everything that’s happening unless we show you what is happening, Deegan said. “So ‘I Dig Jax’ tells that story, and the story of dirt turning and people getting excited about their city as we grow. That is really what this is about.”
As equipment rumbled nearby, City Council member Jimmy Peluso said “dozens of cranes” will soon fill Downtown’s skies as investment in the urban core results in growing riverfront construction.
“There are naysayers, if you have not paid attention, who say Downtown can’t do this; Downtown’s dead,” Peluso said. “Once they start seeing these cranes in the area and once they realize that the ‘I Dig Jax” website shows all these great projects, they will see that their taxpayer dollars are going to the very thing they have been complaining about for decades, which is we are finally investing in our Downtown and we are finally bringing people Downtown.”
Downtown vision
Riverfront Plaza is rising on the site of the former Jacksonville Landing on Independent Drive, the first in a series of parks and other amenities planned for the St. Johns Riverfront. The city also has plans for grassy spaces that once held the former courthouse and City Hall, as well as the Shipyards across from Maxwell House.
Work began in mid-2024 to realign part of Independent Drive to make space for Riverfront Plaza, which includes a more flood-resistant bulkhead, children’s playground and a café with rooftop garden.
The first phase started with the closure of some Downtown streets. And in the next week, parts of Forsyth and Adams streets will be closed for resurfacing, said Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority.
“Once resurfacing and restriping are completed, those streets will convert to two-way,” Boyer said. “This change will take a little adjustment and patience, but will ultimately benefit streetfront retail, make Downtown more walkable, and has been shown to increase property values.”
Part of Hogan Street will become a pedestrian plaza directly connecting the Performing Arts Center with the park, she said.
The plaza’s second phase has been designed, focusing on the eastern side, with a pedestrian ramp from the Main Street bridge and a beer garden beneath it. Plans continue for a hotel and residential tower on Riverfront Plaza’s northeast corner, a proposal the DIA Board will consider soon, Boyer said.
By adding hotel units, the city can add a room surcharge to earn revenue to help maintain the park, she said. Other changes are in the works for a building that would be limited to 17 stories, she said.
“It has a 5,000-square-foot public plaza that overlooks the park from the top of the parking garage,” Boyer said. “All of the space on the top of the parking garage is restaurant and space that can spill out onto this plaza, and the plaza essentially provides outdoor seating for people to also enjoy the park and views of the river.”
Among other projects:
Metropolitan Park: Final design is underway on a redesign of Metropolitan Park at the eastern end of Downtown as construction continues. Detailed engineering and landscape plans should be done late this year for city review, then construction by 2026, city officials said.
Four Seasons: Next to the park, construction continues across from EverBank Stadium on a Four Seasons Hotel and office building, as well as an expanded city marina and support building.
Jacksonville Performing Arts Center: A Music Heritage Garden on the waterfront of the Jacksonville Performing Arts Center at 300 Water St. is set to be done at the end of this year.
Friendship Fountain: The second phase of Friendship Fountain’s redesign, with a history-themed play park, restrooms, a wedding venue and interpretive gardens, is under construction with a completion date of late 2025.
Shipyards West: Final design should be done later this year for the 10-acre Shipyards West park between the USS Orleck museum and Hogan’s Creek. Construction to start next year.
MOSH: Work should begin late this year near there for the new 130,000-square-foot Museum of Science & History on 2.5 acres of the Shipyards along East Bay Street, MOSH officials said last week.
