City Council Approves Nearly $50 Million Incentive for Downtown Publix Tower at Pearl Square After Committee Deadlock

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 10, approved support for the N7 building in Gateway Jax's Pearl Square development, a downtown tower planned to include a Publix grocery store, according to a statement from Mayor Donna Deegan's office. The vote count was not included in the statement.

The measure is a $49.65 million incentive package for Block N7, part of Gateway Jax's larger Pearl Square redevelopment, News4JAX reported before the vote. The project is a $140.15 million, 14-story residential and retail building. At least 30,000 square feet of its retail space must go to Publix or another comparable grocer approved by the Downtown Investment Authority. Publix would lease the space and would not receive any of the city money, according to News4JAX.

How it got here

The council delayed the vote in October until after the Nov. 3 election result on Amendment 3, a statewide ballot measure that could affect city revenue, Jacksonville Today reported. The council's Finance Committee then split 3-3 on the proposal the week before the full council vote, and Council President Nick Howland sent it to the full council without a committee recommendation.

What supporters and critics said

Deegan praised the council members who voted for the deal, saying they "put Jacksonville first." She said a full-service grocery store and pharmacy, with more retail and residents, would make the next phase of Pearl Square "a truly transformational project" that would bring in commercial tax revenue for neighborhoods across the city. She also thanked the Downtown Investment Authority and Gateway Jax.

Howland had said he would vote against the bill as written. Before the vote, he argued that approving the incentive without knowing the size of the city's budget shortfall after Amendment 3 would be "irresponsible," according to News4JAX. Gateway Jax had said the project could not move forward without the public-private partnership.

According to council auditor figures cited by Jacksonville Today, approving the Gateway deal would bring the city's unbudgeted and outstanding completion grants to nearly $96.6 million.

What happens next

The statement did not give a construction timeline. Jax Times will update this story with the final vote count and next steps as they become available.