An artist's depiction shows the Southbank Residences next to Friendship Fountain in Downtown Jacksonville. | Related Group
Published on May 20, 2026 at 3:05 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Construction is starting on a long-delayed residential tower on the Southbank Riverwalk, next to Friendship Fountain and the former Museum of Science & History.
The Related Group, a developer from Miami, broke ground Wednesday for the Southbank Residences, a $200 million project that marks the first new luxury high-rise along Jacksonville’s riverfront in over a decade.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Related developed the initial plans for the former River City Brewing Co. site in 2021. But the Downtown Investment Authority nixed the first plan, a $92.32 million development with more apartments.
Related then developed a new plan that CEO and President Steve Patterson said will have luxury rental residences in two towers, anchored by a 4,500-square-foot waterfront restaurant, 29-slip marina, public boat ramp and 601 parking spaces. He joked that it took “five years and a couple of bucks,” but will result in more than just a building, but a village.
The design includes a wellness center, 24-hour market, speakeasy, library, private theater and entertainment lounge, while a waterfront pool and spa will overlook the St. Johns River.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Residences are planned in a 25-story “Icon” tower and an eight-story “Manor” building, Related said.
Icon Southbank will have one-, two- and three-bedroom residences with 10-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and oversized balconies. Manor Southbank will offer what the developer calls a more intimate, residential-scale experience with direct-access parking.
The waterfront restaurant “anchors the public realm, creating an active gathering place for residents and visitors to connect with the Riverwalk,” the developer said.
“It has view overlooking downtown, views overlooking Friendship Park. Its location couldn’t be any better,” Patterson said during a ceremony Wednesday. “This project — we threw everything into this including kitchen sinks. … But you know what’s really going to be really great about living here? You are going to get up in the morning and hop on a water taxi for a five-minute ride to your job — how great is that? Or go to a football game.”
Related did not provide a date for completing its first project in Jacksonville.
Mayor Donna Deegan told the audience: “Here we are, baby — it’s going up!” She pointed to all the development along the river in Downtown, including the Riverfront Plaza, revised Northbank Riverwalk and new Riverfront Music Garden, the Four Seasons Hotel and office building and EverBank Stadium’s $1.4 billion renovation.
Southbank Residences will be a “catalytic project,” she said. “You don’t know the difference that all of this is going to make here on our riverfront.”
Deegan said Related’s executives “see the vision, they have done it before, and they believe in Jacksonville. It is a time for our Downtown that many of us have dreamed of for many, many decades. To see the renderings become reality is absolutely incredible, and this is just a piece of that.”
Related’s initial development proposal had 335 apartments, riverfront swimming pool, parking garage and restaurant. But the DIA terminated the proposal in January 2023 after contract deadlines had passed, as did a planned start of construction in June.
The riverfront site has been home to restaurants and nightspots for decades, from the original Lobster House from the 1940s through 1962, then Diamondhead through the 1980s. It became a disco club, then Harbormasters until River City Brewing Co. opened there in late 1993.
River City shut down in July 2021 and was demolished to make way for the proposed apartment complex. Related acquired the property from the restaurant’s owners. The site has been fenced in and vacant until now.
The site of Southbank Residences
The new buildings, built on 2.97 acres, were designed by architect Carlos Ott, the man behind Paris’ Opéra Bastille and other projects around the world.
“This site offers a rare opportunity to engage directly with the river and the city’s skyline in a way that feels both contemporary and timeless,” Ott said in a news release. “The design responds to Jacksonville’s natural setting while creating a strong architectural presence along the St. Johns River.”
There was some doubt about the project as the site sat vacant for years, but the groundbreaking proves that the city demands excellence in its projects, said City Council member Joe Carlucci Jr., who represents the area.
“The conversation in this city will no longer be, ‘Will anything ever happen downtown?” Carlucci said. “That question is done. The new question and the only question that matters going forward is this: ‘Is your projet good enough for Jacksonville?’ Because Jacksonville will not settle.”
The project brings the public and private sector together, which will help develop homes to get people living Downtown again, said Related Group founder Jon Paul Pérez.
“We have government that wants their cities to be important urban places, not just in the United States, but around the world,” Pérez said. “We should be doing a lot more here in Jacksonville, which I hope we do. We never do just one project. We want to really, really invest and get involved.“
