Columbia Ventures Development Manager Ryan Akin says more than 350,000 work hours went into renovating the Union Terminal Warehouse. The 330,000-square-foot building was repurposed as part of a $72 million renovation. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on March 6, 2025 at 6:01 pm
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After years of work, the 112-year-old Union Terminal Warehouse on the Eastside has been reborn as a mixed-use facility offering business space, mixed-income housing and — more broadly — hope for other historic buildings in Jacksonville.
The project was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Thursday where its Atlanta-based developers said the success was possible only because of communication with partners and connection with community leaders.
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Seven years after Columbia Ventures acquired the building, the Union Terminal Warehouse has been redeveloped as a place where Vantage Point Coffee Co. and other local businesses can operate as well as 228 residential units. The project welcomed is first tenants March 1.
“These deals don’t get financed without great partners,” said Columbia Ventures Development Manager Ryan Akin. He credited the Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program through the Downtown Investment Authority, the city of Jacksonville and a supportive lender.
Union Terminal received $8.3 million in loans through a city program that is designed to reuse unoccupied, underutilized or a deteriorating historic building in Downtown. It can be applied for a single-use tenant or multitenant office space.
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Union Terminal Warehouse was Florida’s largest commercial building when it opened in 1913. It has since been used as a grocery processing facility, a telegraph service, an artists hub and more.
Columbia officials previously told Jacksonville Today that their work on the Pittsburgh Yards development near the Atlanta Beltline gave them confidence they could do the same in Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan says the location, on the fringe of the Eastside and within five minutes of Springfield, Downtown and bridges that connect to Arlington and St. Nicholas has the ability to connect the community.
“As Jacksonville continues to embark on transformative projects like this very one, it is critical that neighborhoods like the Eastside are no longer left behind,” Deegan said. “This area’s history is deeply woven into the fabric of Jacksonville, and this project is just the latest example of how history can be thoughtfully preserved and repurposed for future generations.”
The project not only connects Jacksonville through its location, but in its intentionality.
LISC Jacksonville provided $10 million to the Union Terminal Warehouse development. Its executive director, Irvin “PeDro” Cohen, says the question he asks before the nonprofit funds a development is whether a teacher can afford to live in a development.
That was a resounding yes with Union Terminal Warehouse. The 228 residential units will have some set aside for people who earn 80% of the area median income. In Duval County, that’s people who earn about $55,000 annually.
“A project comes online and it creates a destination,” Cohen said. “Our investment in this was the catalyst for Project Boots. “From a leadership standpoint, you have to be committed to staying true to your mission. For us, you will us invest in communities like this. That’s why it was a no brainer.”
Afterward, Akin smiled as Nick Nicoli told him that Columbia did an amazing job with the property. Columbia purchased the property from Nicoli, Billy Blount and the late Al Rhoden in December 2018 — days before Rhoden’s death at 91.
“It blows my mind,” Nicoli told Jacksonville Today. “I had no idea it would come out like this. Unbelievable! To have so many things for tenants to do, exercise equipment, coffee shops, they are going to do so much.”
