Beyond the Budget: How Much Has Jacksonville Already Committed to Downtown Development?

John Hawley

Aug 8, 2026

Jacksonville’s Development Divide — Part 2

In Part 1 of Jacksonville’s Development Divide, we examined Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed $586.1 million Capital Improvement Plan and found that roughly $290.75 million could be tied to just six major downtown projects when the $220 million stadium installment is included.

But the capital budget tells only part of the story. Jacksonville is also using an increasingly complicated collection of incentives to encourage private development downtown—REV grants, completion grants, forgivable loans, low-interest loans, tax-increment financing and other public assistance that does not appear as one simple line in the annual capital budget.

Some incentives have already been approved. Others have received preliminary approval but still require Jacksonville City Council action. Still others have been publicly discussed but have not reached the approval stage, and more could emerge before the end of 2026. That makes the seemingly simple question—“How much has Jacksonville committed to downtown development?”—surprisingly difficult to answer. It also makes it increasingly important to ask.

Start With 2026

One way to understand the scale is to look only at major downtown incentive actions that have occurred or advanced during 2026. The largest is the proposed Jacksonville campus of the Culinary Institute of America.

In May, Jacksonville City Council voted 16-2 to support bringing the Culinary Institute to Downtown Jacksonville and authorized negotiations for an economic-development incentive package of up to $35 million. The proposed campus would contain roughly 50,000 square feet and would be incorporated into a larger private development planned at 330 E. Bay Street by Corner Lot and Aspect Real Estate Group.

The distinction here is critical: Jacksonville has not simply written the Culinary Institute a $35 million check. Council authorized negotiations up to that amount, and a final economic-development agreement would still require Council approval and lawful appropriation of the money. Nevertheless, City Council has formally placed as much as $35 million of public participation on the table for one institution.

That amount is striking when placed beside one of the comparisons from Part 1. Mayor Deegan’s proposed FY27 budget contains approximately $35.95 million to resurface roads throughout Jacksonville. The city is therefore contemplating nearly the same amount of public assistance to establish the Culinary Institute downtown as it proposes spending in one year resurfacing streets throughout the entire consolidated city.

That does not mean the investments are equivalent. They clearly are not. But it demonstrates the scale of the development strategy Jacksonville is pursuing.

The Culinary School Is Only Part of a Larger Private Development

The Culinary Institute deal becomes even more significant when viewed in context. The school is proposed as part of a much larger approximately $160 million private development at 330 E. Bay Street.

Plans presented publicly have included a hotel, conference center, office, restaurant and retail space in addition to the culinary campus. Corner Lot and Aspect submitted the only response to a Downtown Investment Authority solicitation involving a portion of the city-owned former courthouse property.

Under terms discussed in May, the proposed $35 million city package would include $8 million for workforce development and $27 million associated with downtown development funding, with contemplated payments spread over six years rather than provided all at once.

But the Culinary Institute incentive is not necessarily the final public participation associated with that site. The developer has also contemplated a hotel, conference center, marina or waterfront improvements, public spaces and additional parking.

That creates an important question going forward: Will additional incentives eventually be requested for the private portions of the project surrounding the Culinary Institute? At this point, that should be treated as a question—not an assumption. But Jacksonville taxpayers should follow the answer because one property could ultimately involve several distinct public-private agreements.

Another $20.9 Million on the Southbank

The Culinary Institute isn't the only large downtown incentive package to move forward this year. On January 21, the Downtown Investment Authority approved incentives totaling approximately $20.9 million for a Marriott-branded hotel planned on Baptist Health's Southbank campus.

The $110 million project would include a 134-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel and a 92-room Element by Westin. The incentive package illustrates why simply adding every announced incentive together can be misleading: approximately $12.9 million is a Recapture Enhanced Value—or REV—grant, while the remaining $8 million is a completion grant.

The DIA's action constituted final approval of the REV grant, but the $8 million completion grant requires City Council approval because it involves a direct payment from city operating funds. Both incentives have economic value, but they affect taxpayers differently.

REV Grants Versus Completion Grants

A REV grant essentially returns a portion of new property-tax revenue generated by a development. If a property generates considerably more taxes after redevelopment, the city agrees to return a specified percentage of that increase to the developer for a specified period. Jacksonville therefore gives up revenue it otherwise could have collected.

A completion grant works differently. Completion grants involve actual payments after a developer completes agreed-upon improvements and satisfies requirements. Those payments ultimately place demands on city resources that could otherwise be available for other governmental purposes.

That difference has become increasingly important at City Hall. DIA CEO Colin Tarbert told City Council's Special Committee on the Future of Downtown in February that completion-grant requests associated with ten known downtown projects could potentially reach between $145.62 million and $224.72 million. Tarbert also cautioned that DIA did not expect every project on the list to ultimately receive such a grant.

The ten projects represented about $1.14 billion in development. The potential city exposure nevertheless drew concern from Council members because completion grants ultimately involve drawdowns on money that otherwise supports city services.

The Pipeline Could Be Much Larger

Among the projects identified in that February presentation were Gateway Jax's Publix-anchored Block N7, the Baptist Health hotel, a possible Hard Rock Hotel at the former Berkman II site, the Laura Street Trio, the former JEA headquarters, the Independent Life Building and the Ambassador Hotel.

The possible completion-grant requests ranged dramatically. A possible Hard Rock project alone was estimated at between $37.5 million and $75 million, although no formal redevelopment agreement had been filed. The former JEA headquarters redevelopment was estimated to potentially need as much as $19 million, the Independent Life Building had been associated with roughly $20.27 million, and the Laura Street Trio was listed with a possible completion grant of as much as $15 million.

These numbers should not be described as approved incentives. They aren't. Some projects may change substantially, others may never occur, and the Laura Street Trio itself has since changed hands through foreclosure. But the list is revealing because it provides a glimpse of the magnitude of incentive requests DIA officials believe could arrive.

Hotel Merrydelle Moves Forward

One project on that February pipeline list has already advanced. Gateway Jax plans to transform the long-vacant former Ambassador Hotel at 420 N. Julia Street into Hotel Merrydelle, a 109-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel.

On May 20, the DIA board voted 7-1 to recommend up to $10.1 million in public incentives for the roughly $24.19 million renovation. The proposed assistance consists of approximately $8.08 million in forgivable loans and $2.02 million in deferred principal. As of early August, Jacksonville City Council had not yet given final approval.

The DIA discussion surrounding Hotel Merrydelle is particularly relevant because DIA board members themselves questioned how much public support was becoming concentrated with one developer. Gateway Jax is undertaking the massive Pearl Square redevelopment in the NorthCore.

In August 2024, City Council approved $98.58 million in incentives for Gateway's first four projects, consisting of approximately $59.63 million in REV grants and $38.95 million in completion grants. Construction is underway on all four. The Hotel Merrydelle request would add another layer—and Gateway has another significant project waiting.

Then There Is the Downtown Publix Deal

Gateway Jax also proposes its Publix-anchored Block N7 development at 119 W. Beaver Street. The approximately $147.95 million project would replace the former First Baptist Church main auditorium with a mixed-use tower containing about 500 apartments, approximately 400 parking spaces, retail space and a 31,000-square-foot Publix grocery store.

In December 2025, the DIA board unanimously endorsed an incentive package of approximately $49.66 million, including a REV grant of up to $21.41 million and a $28.25 million completion grant.

But as of August 4, 2026, the package had hit a roadblock at City Council. Council members have raised concerns over the size and structure of the completion grant and the cumulative impact of previous Gateway incentives.

The project illustrates another reason this series must distinguish between DIA endorsement and actual city commitment. DIA can recommend; City Council ultimately controls major completion-grant commitments. So the $49.66 million is not yet money Jacksonville should describe as finally committed to Block N7. But it remains very much in play, and demolition of the existing auditorium has already begun under a city permit issued in June.

Smaller Incentives Add Up Too

Large projects naturally receive most of the attention, but downtown redevelopment policy also includes smaller programs. In April, Jacksonville City Council approved approximately $3.53 million in largely forgivable loans for two historic-property redevelopment projects near Laura and Monroe streets.

One involves the former Mag's Cafe property at 231 N. Laura Street and the other a neighboring property on Monroe Street. The projects are expected to include apartments and ground-floor restaurant or retail uses.

Those loans are funded through downtown tax-increment revenue rather than directly from the General Fund. That distinction matters, but public economic resources are still being dedicated to encouraging redevelopment within the downtown CRA.

In May, DIA also approved $200,000 in incentives for a vinyl listening room downtown. Individually, these programs are small beside a $35 million Culinary Institute package. Collectively, they demonstrate how many different incentive channels exist.

So How Much Has Been Put on the Table in 2026?

Looking only at several major 2026 actions discussed above gives us:

Culinary Institute of America — up to $35 million authorized for negotiation

Baptist Health hotel — approximately $20.9 million approved or advanced by DIA, with the REV portion receiving final DIA action and the completion grant requiring Council action

Hotel Merrydelle — up to $10.1 million recommended by DIA, pending Council action

Laura/Monroe historic projects — $3.53 million approved

Vinyl listening room — $200,000 approved by DIA

Taken together, those actions involve roughly $69.7 million.

But calling all $69.7 million “money already spent” would be wrong. Calling all of it “fully committed” would also overstate the situation. A better description is:

Nearly $70 million in downtown development incentives has been approved, authorized for negotiation or recommended through major 2026 actions reviewed for this article—with different levels of finality and different funding mechanisms.

And that figure does not include the unresolved $49.66 million Publix-anchored Block N7 package recommended by DIA in December 2025. Nor does it include the $98.58 million already approved in 2024 for Gateway's first four projects or older commitments to projects such as Southbank Residences, One Riverside, RiversEdge or the Four Seasons development.

The total public-development commitment downtown therefore extends far beyond what happened in 2026.

Some Existing Commitments Are Enormous

Consider several projects already moving forward. City Council approved approximately $58.79 million in public incentives for The Related Group's Southbank Residences project in 2024. Jacksonville previously approved approximately $31.59 million in incentives for One Riverside.

The Four Seasons, One Tower Court and related Shipyards development has involved an even larger city incentive package. In 2023, Council approved a revised package totaling approximately $129.75 million, and subsequent amendments have adjusted portions of the agreement.

These examples show why a comprehensive accounting can't simply add newspaper headlines together. Some incentive packages are amended versions of earlier agreements. Some REV grants are maximum potential amounts that may never be fully paid. Some completion grants are conditional. Some projects include public infrastructure that ultimately belongs to Jacksonville, while some financial assistance is generated from taxes produced within downtown's own redevelopment districts rather than general citywide revenues.

The accounting needs categories.

That Is Exactly the Point

Jacksonville residents are routinely told that downtown has billions of dollars of private investment underway. That appears to be true. DIA recently described a downtown development pipeline approaching $7 billion, including projects ranging from Gateway Jax to RiversEdge, the stadium, Four Seasons and Southbank development.

That is a legitimate accomplishment. Private developers are investing enormous amounts of money downtown. But Jacksonville taxpayers are also participating substantially in that transformation, and the public side should be just as transparent as the private side.

How much consists of future tax rebates? How much comes from the General Fund? How much comes from downtown's tax-increment districts? How much is forgivable? How much must be repaid? How much infrastructure remains publicly owned?

And perhaps most importantly: When does a downtown market become strong enough that taxpayers no longer need to close the financing gap?

City Council Is Beginning to Ask That Question

That debate is no longer confined to critics of downtown spending. Several City Council members have publicly questioned whether Jacksonville should begin reducing its reliance on development incentives, particularly completion grants.

Council member Ron Salem argued earlier this year that incentives had originally been intended to help “kick-start” downtown redevelopment and questioned whether the city should begin weaning development away from them as momentum builds.

DIA officials have expressed a similar long-term objective. Tarbert told Council members that the goal is eventually to eliminate completion grants as market conditions improve and projects become financially viable without them.

That makes the current moment unusually important. Jacksonville may be approaching the point where the question changes from “How much public assistance does downtown need to get started?” to “How much public assistance does downtown still need now that billions of dollars of development are already underway?”

Those are very different questions.

And More Could Still Be Coming

The most important number in this story may therefore not be $35 million, $49.66 million or even $69.7 million. It may be the $145.62 million to $224.72 million range of potential completion-grant requests DIA presented to City Council earlier this year.

Again, DIA explicitly cautioned that not every project on the list would receive a grant. But Jacksonville is already negotiating or considering several major developments. The Culinary Institute agreement still has to be finalized. The private hotel and other development surrounding the culinary campus could create additional negotiations. Hotel Merrydelle remains before the city. The Publix-anchored Gateway project remains unresolved. Other downtown properties are changing ownership and redevelopment plans.

And 2026 isn't over. Jacksonville's eventual downtown development commitment could look substantially different by the time the fiscal year ends.

The Question Is Not Whether Downtown Should Succeed

Downtown Jacksonville spent decades waiting for major projects to move beyond renderings. Today, many finally are. Gateway Jax is under construction. The Four Seasons is rising. Southbank projects are advancing. Riverfront parks are taking shape. Residential population has grown, and private capital is flowing into areas where developers once struggled to justify investment.

That progress matters. But successful redevelopment shouldn't make financial scrutiny less important. It should make it more important.

Jacksonville is no longer discussing one struggling building or one catalytic project. It is managing a development ecosystem involving billions of private dollars and potentially hundreds of millions in public participation.

Taxpayers deserve to understand both sides of that ledger.