Fun To Watch

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, Congressman Aaron Bean, and City Council President Randy White joined leaders from Gateway Jax to break ground on a $2 Billion investment in downtown over the next decade. Pearl Square is a mixed-use development that will bring over 1,200 new residential units, retail, public parks, and more to downtown. #ilovejax City of Jacksonville Gateway Jax Photo Credit: Fun To Watch

Jacksonville, Florida, is no longer a city of renderings. Today, I had the opportunity to film Jacksonville’s newest groundbreaking for 515 Pearl Street with Fun To Watch. The event was incredible for numerous reasons. 1. It was amazing to see so many of our city’s leaders come together to get this project going. While in the past, Jacksonville may have felt like a collection of segmented developments happening with no rhyme or reason, this is no longer the case. Seeing the Downtown Investment Authority, Gateway Jax, JWB Real Estate Companies, DLP Capital, and the city itself come together to work so harmoniously fills me with pride to be a citizen of this city. 2. These were the first shovels in the ground for an overall larger project called “Pearl Square.” This project will create 1,250 new residences in downtown Jacksonville (the most in decades), about 200,000 square feet of retail space, an acre of open space, and 150 hotel rooms. The LaVilla neighborhood, just west of this current project, has been seeing significant development itself, and “Pearl Square” should continue to bring that progress toward the heart of downtown, creating the critical mass and density that the urban core has not seen in decades. Shout out to Corner Lot for their work on “Johnson Commons.” 3. I was born and raised here in Jacksonville, and for my entire life, this city has not had a true downtown. It was always, “Okay, let’s go to the Jags game and then bolt out of here when it’s done.” This past October, though, I moved into the Brentwood suburb, which is about five minutes north of the urban core. In that time, I have learned to love this area, its residents, and its history. I feel so fortunate to be living here at a time when we have the right leadership and teams in place to undertake this incredible task of BUILDING A CITY (like the Justin Sena and Fun To Watch hit series). If you still believe that Jacksonville has nothing going on, that downtown will never become anything, or that people aren’t trying to make things happen then you’re just not looking. The picture below shows of all the developments CURRENTLY happening in Jacksonville, as well as some links to the projects discussed. I love you, Jax. Pearl Square Website: https://lnkd.in/e29QE-Sn Current Downtown Projects: https://lnkd.in/e54ryrNy Building A City: https://lnkd.in/ehjV2HEh Andy Allen Robert Candler Christian Candler Gregg Cohen Alex Sifakis Nicholas Lightner Igor Kazhuro Jordan Hansen Bryan Moll Casey Peyton