The city has issued a permit for a sculpture called The Pearl at the RiversEdge development on the Downtown Southbank. The Pearl is the centerpiece of the development's Central Park. | Jacksonville Daily Record
Published on August 11, 2025 at 5:08 pm
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Q: It’s been more than four years since Texas-based development financier Preston Hollow Community Capital LLC broke ground on the 32-acre, $693 million Downtown Southbank megaproject RiversEdge.
The Jacksonville City Council increased the maximum 20-year property tax rebate for the project in 2023 from $41.96 million to $97.86 million when the total cost of the proposed development went up. And homebuilder Toll Brothers started the first piece of vertical construction at RiversEdget — 40 townhomes — last year.
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As the public parks at the new Southbank neighborhood prepare to open, a $2.87 million sculpture, The Pearl, will soon stand at its Central Park.
That raised a question for Jacksonville Today reader Kenny L.
Kenny wants to know who is paying for The Pearl.
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“Can you confirm that it is the developer and NOT (the city of Jacksonville) that is paying for the art installation in RiversEdge?”
A: Although The Pearl was commissioned and will be installed by a contractor hired by Preston Hollow, the city and the Preston Hollow are both paying the bill.
The development agreement for RiversEdge between the city and a Preston Hollow subsidiary, Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC, includes a $1 million allowance from the city for public art in the city parks created inside the new neighborhood.
That money is part of the $22.88 million budget the city approved for the public infrastructure in RiversEdge, according to Steve Kelley with the city’s Downtown Investment Authority.
The agreement says any cost overruns will be the responsibility of the RiversEdge Community Development District — a public financing entity that’s managed by Elements.
That means the developer is responsible for the remaining $1.827 million cost of the artwork, designed by architect Marc Fornes.
Fornes has designed public sculptures for Google, Louis Vuitton and Porsche, and in public spaces in multiple counties.
The city issued a permit Aug. 1 for the sculpture at 1915 RiversEdge Blvd., the Jacksonville Daily Record, a Jacksonville Today news partner, reported last week.
According to the agreement, there will be four public parks at RiversEdge — Central Park on the riverfront with the Pearl, pavilion, Kayak launch and water taxi stop; Northwest park with a destination playground; a fitness park; and a marshfront park.
Kelley, the DIA’s director of Downtown real estate and development, says the Pearl and Central Park are scheduled for a full opening in March 2026, but he expects the sculpture’s installation to be sooner.
The park will partially open this September, he said. The city will own the parks, but they will be maintained by Preston Hollow. The developer and city officials are finalizing a maintenance agreement for the parks, Kelley said.
“We don’t want people in (the park) and not (have) any maintenance going on during that use period. It’s so close,” Kelley said.
“(Central) Park is done and looks magnificent. There’s been a lot of interest on getting in and using that park. The (Southbank) Riverwalk has been extended. We’ve got the walking path off the river through the backside of the property — that is done. My understanding is it’s open now,” he said.
There is about $70 million in infrastructure at RiversEdge including the parks, river bulkheads, roads and utilities, according to the city’s chief communications officer, Phil Perry.
That cost is split between the city and developer. The $22.88 million city portion is funded by property taxes collected within the Downtown Southbank Community Redevelopment Area. The developers’ CDD is paying for $45.91 million, and there will be $1.2 million in tree planting paid for by the city’s tree fund.
Several developers have been trying to build a planned, mixed-use project at the RiversEdge site, once the old JEA Southside Generating Plant, for more than a decade. The first concept for the site was known as Healthy Town, conceived by former Elements partners Peter Rummell and Michael Munz.
They changed the project name to “The District” in 2015. Elements announced that Preston Hollow had acquired the company in October 2020.
Element’s latest agreement with the city, approved by City Council in 2023, outlines the private development pieces planned for RiversEdge — 1,170 residential units; 200 hotel rooms; 200,000 square feet of class A office space; 121,400 square feet of retail space; and a 125-slip marina.
To date, there have not been any deals announced to build out those private development pads. Kelley says Preston Hollow has had some negotiations with developers on RiversEdge’s designated hotel site, but nothing has been finalized.
