3 a.m. toast: Some Downtown bars get extra hour for alcohol

Last call is about to come an hour later for bars and restaurants within a newly created Downtown Entertainment District.

The Jacksonville City Council voted 17-1 on Tuesday to approve legislation that allows establishments in Downtown’s Brooklyn, NorthCore, Central Core, and Sports and Entertainment District to sell and serve alcohol until 3 a.m.

Council member Raul Arias introduced Ordinance 2026-0063. He says creating a true entertainment district Downtown and giving an extra hour for alcohol sales puts the city more in line with other large cities that local leaders often compare to Jacksonville, including Miami.

Arias says it also aids City Council’s recent discussion about finding other ways to encourage businesses to come Downtown other than cash grants and forgivable loans.

“What’s a way to incentivize businesses to come to Jacksonville — small businesses, whether their restaurants or bars? Instead of giving them money or completion grants, I say how about we give them an extra hour of operation,” Arias said Feb. 17. “That way they can create some more revenue, some more workforce?”

Before the council’s vote, Downtown bars and restaurants could serve alcohol until 2 a.m. but had to cease sales from 2 a.m. 6 a.m. The statewide baseline for alcohol sales set in Florida Statute allows sales from 7 a.m. to midnight unless otherwise permitted by the local government.

The new rule does not apply to other areas of Duval County, including the Beaches, which can set their own rules. For example, according to the city’s Office of General Counsel, Jacksonville Beach allows establishments to sell alcohol until midnight but issues one-year permits for qualifying businesses to sell until 2 a.m. The permits have to be renewed annually.

The bill has been sent to Mayor Donna Deegan. An administration official told council members last week that she intends to support it.

3 a.m. support

The additional hour of alcohol Downtown has received broad support from Downtown business owners and organizations that represent the food, beverage and hospitality industry.

Evan Rajata is co-owner of the nightclub and music venue Decca Live at 323 E. Bay St. that opened in January 2025. He expects the extended alcohol sale hours in the Downtown Northbank could generate more than $1 million in additional tax revenue for the city and create several hundred more jobs.

“Creating an ecosystem Downtown of not just entertainment and concerts and all the fun stuff will bring in a lot of restaurants and a lot of people who have thought about investing in Downtown but have just sort of sat on the sidelines kind of worried when the turn will happen, Rajata told a City Council committee on Feb. 17.

“Waiting for the Jaguars to do their thing, for Pearl Square to get finished. This will kind of speed up the timeline for the Downtown district. … I think it’s time to give it that little extra boost that it needs to finally be there, not just three to five years away that we’ve been saying for the last 35 years,” he said.

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association both wrote letters of support.

Council member Mike Gay was the only no vote Tuesday night. He says he’d heard opposition to the bill. Arias was absent for the final vote.

Last call boundaries

Initially, Arias considered asking city lawmakers to extend alcohol sales in three Downtown neighborhoods — NorthCore, Central Core, and the Sports and Entertainment District — until 5 a.m. But he told Jacksonville Today in January that he thought an additional three hours would be a heavy lift to get through council.

He says it made sense to target those three areas because of the concentration of bars and restaurants that were already selling until 2 a.m.

Council member Jimmy Peluso, who represents Downtown, urged an amendment last week to include Brooklyn, after a recommendation to add the area by the Urban Core Citizen Planning Advisory Committee and the Brooklyn-based InCahoots Nightclub.

Arias said he didn’t want to include any areas that were near a lot of multifamily apartments or neighborhoods of single-family homes like Downtown’s Cathedral District, and his first draft left out Brooklyn.

Council member Ju’Coby Pittman requested to allow business corridors on Main Street and Norwood Avenue to be included. But several other lawmakers said areas outside Downtown should be considered under separate legislation.

There is nothing in the legislation that addresses safety related to another hour of alcohol service, but it was discussed.

“What alcohol does to those who consume it, they become emboldened to do things that are foolish,” council member Tyrona Clark-Murray said. “That doesn’t always involve someone brandishing a gun. It involves fights, it involves — in some cases — mayhem.” 

Arias told Clark-Murray and council member Michael Boylan on Feb. 17 that the businesses he spoke to already had enhanced security during later hours. But, if it becomes an issue, Arais said he intends to proposed a business improvement district that businesses could opt into to divert tax dollars to collectively raise money for security.

This would be similar to what council approved last year in the Riverside’s Five Points business district.

Council member Chris Miller said he ran the bill by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, which says it’s “indifferent” to the change and will adjust patrols as necessary.