What's Opening in Downtown Jacksonville Through 2027: The Vandeveer Debuts Nov. 18, a Biergarten Is Due This Fall and the Four Seasons Has a June 30 Deadline

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The first building in Gateway Jax's Pearl Square district, the 205-apartment Vandeveer at 515 N. Pearl St., is scheduled to open Nov. 18 with an invitation-only ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m., according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. It leads a list of Downtown openings expected over the next several months, from a beer garden and a Pilates studio to a riverfront sandwich shop. Bigger projects, including the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences at the Shipyards and the Hotel Merrydelle, are aimed at 2027.

This tracker lists each project with its address, current status and expected date, along with who reported it. Where a developer has not announced a date, the table says so instead of guessing. Jax Times covered the Riverfront Plaza Phase 2 plans and the Vandeveer's 2027 shop lineup in earlier stories, so those items appear here only briefly.

Opening soon: November 2026 to early 2027

Apartment rents at the Vandeveer range from $1,541 for a 489-square-foot studio to $3,556 for a 1,080-square-foot two-bedroom, the Daily Record reported. The seven-story building has ground-floor shops and sits next to the historic Thomas V. Porter House, which gives the beer garden lawn its name. The Pearl Square website still listed the building as "Now Pre-Leasing" on Nov. 7 and did not give move-in dates.

Buchner's Biergarten is run by Buchner's Bierhalle of Murray Hill and will serve German beers and small plates outdoors, according to Gateway Jax. The developer said in July that the beer garden would start in October, and on Sept. 18 it said Buchner's and JetSet would open "this fall." Gateway Jax told the Daily Record it would share specific dates "in the coming weeks," and none had been posted as of Nov. 7.

A related proposal, Ordinance 2026-0817, asks the state Legislature to create a Pearl Square Open Container District so customers could carry drinks in designated common areas. Two council committees recommended it on Nov. 2, by votes of 6-1 and 7-0, according to the Daily Record. The paper said final council approval could come as early as Nov. 10.

2027 openings

The Four Seasons is the biggest unknown on the list. The city has extended its completion deadline twice, and the second extension set substantial completion for June 30, 2027, according to the Florida Times-Union. Jaguars President Mark Lamping said in March it was on track to be substantially complete "in a year or so," and no grand opening date had been announced as of Nov. 7.

The Hotel Merrydelle is a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel planned for the historic Ambassador Hotel building and run by The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, according to the April announcement. Gateway Jax CEO Bryan Moll has said the hotel will open shortly after the Vandeveer, the Downtown Investment Authority reported. An Italian restaurant, Colletta, is planned inside.

Already open since summer

Several projects on earlier lists have already opened. Met Park Marina opened Aug. 12 with 78 slips off Gator Bowl Boulevard, next to the Four Seasons site, according to Jacksonville Today. The Daily Record reported in September that Asado Life, the live-fire restaurant at 5 Tower Court, had opened, and that the University of Florida opened its graduate campus at 801 W. Bay St. on Sept. 9.

Further out

Some major Downtown projects are not expected until 2028 or later. The Publix at Pearl Square is expected to be finished by the end of 2028 if approvals and construction stay on schedule, according to the DIA. The new Museum of Science & History is planned to break ground in 2027, pending city approvals, and the Related Group's Southbank Residences are targeted for late 2028 to early 2029.

Dates on this list can move, especially for projects still waiting on permits or city approvals. Jax Times will update this tracker as developers confirm openings. Readers can check the Downtown Investment Authority's news page at dia.jacksonville.gov for official updates.