Part of the city land sawp deal considered by the Downtown Investment Authority would see this 1-acre site next to the Main Street bridge used by Gateway Jax for a 17-story mixed-use tower. | DIA
Published on February 19, 2025 at 9:13 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority board on Wednesday approved a land swap deal to ensure the University of Florida can open its Downtown campus in LaVilla and developer Gateway Jax can develop centrally located riverfront land into a 17-story hotel and condo tower.
The 5-to-2 land swap vote sets up a showdown in City Council between approving the deal as is or instead pursuing an outright purchase of the LaVilla site, as is being proposed by council member Ron Salem.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The DIA-approved swap involves a West Bay Street office currently owned by Gateway Jax and vacant land on either side of the Main Street Bridge, where the Jacksonville Landing shopping center previously stood.
The University of Florida and city officials announced in December that it had selected LaVilla for its new graduate campus centered on high-tech fields and semiconductor research. The first classes are scheduled to start as soon as this fall, and UF’s ultimate plan is to use 22 acres of land near the Prime Osborn Convention Center for campus housing and facilities. The Gateway Jax-owned former Interline Brands building on West Bay Street must be ready by August so university staff can move in to its first campus facility.
The former Interline Brands Inc. building and its parking lot are on 2.85 acres at 801 W. Bay St. The land swap proposal would see the city take ownership of the site, then transfer it to the university.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Speaking to the DIA board on Wednesday, Kurt Dudas, a vice president at UF, said time is of the essence to get staff into the building to kick off their graduate program.
“It is the most important right now, or at least the most urgent because that is our initial opening site, that is where we plan to launch initial students, administration and degree programs as early as this August,” Dudas said.
Approving the land swap means that the DIA can post a public notice next week that gives interested parties 30 days to make offers to buy and develop the Interline site. If no other qualified proposal is received, then DIA CEO Lori Boyer can negotiate the redevelopment agreement with Gateway.
Saying that the UF campus plan is very important to Downtown development, Gateway Jax’s Bryan Moll said they will not stand in the way of that. He said Gateway bought the Interline site before UF announced the LaVilla campus plans, seeking it out because it is within walking distance of many of its planned Urban Core projects, the first of which broke ground in late October: Pearl Square at 515 Pearl St.
“When we purchased this (Interline) site, our view was that it was a great buy regardless of where UF located,” he said.
Then came the idea to offer the city a swap: the Interline property for the city’s 1-acre lot on the Riverfront Plaza site, just west of the Main Street bridge.
Gateway Jax’s tower proposal comes after a similar plan by American Lions at that former Jacksonville Landing site was abandoned last year. Now Gateway Jax proposes to build a 17-story building: 11 floors of condominium and five for a hotel, with ground-floor lobby and restaurants. Doing so would bring more life and business to the riverfront than just a park, Moll argued.
“It would also allow for a tremendous opportunity to enhance Riverfront Plaza and the beautiful $35 milion park being built there,” he said. “… I fully believe something needs to be built in that area for activation, whether it is us, hopefully, or someone else.”
Boyer discussed the hotel and condominium proposal during a Feb. 10 news conference at the construction site of Riverfront Plaza park on Independent Drive next to the Main Street Bridge. She said adding hotel units means the city can earn more tax revenue to help maintain the park. And she said the building would have public plazas and outdoor dining around the base “that can spill out onto this plaza.”
Moll said they would have engineering and design plans down within 18 to 24 months. The building could be done in another 30 months, with a total estimated cost of $20 million, he said.
An alternate proposal
Before the vote, the board heard from City Council member Ron Salem, who said he is filing a bill to allocate $4 million in funding to buy the former Interline building outright instead of the land swap. He expects the bill will come up for a final vote on March 25.
“It take two people to dance, and Gateway would have to negotiate with us to purchase,” he said. “I said in my statement, the $4 million was a starting point. I am not suggesting we will buy it for $4 milion.”
Mayor Deegan’s Chief of Staff Mike Weinstein told the board the land swap deal follows complex negotiations by the mayor’s office and DIA staff to find the right place for the UF campus. With those talks concluded, he said, the land swap means no more city money will be spent to get the UF campus started, and the mayor really wants something done with the space at the old Jacksonville Landing.
The City Council are not supposed to be negotiating land purchases, Weinstein added.
“Nineteen part-time people that can’t talk to each other, don’t negotiate very well, and they are not supposed to,” Weinstein said, talking about rules that bar City Council members from discussing issues outside of public meetings. “… Land swap at this point gives us the options and we move forward. We can always come back and adjust, and buy it if that is the desire of both parties.”
