Gateway Jax Seeks More Riverfront Plaza Incentives. How Much Public Support Will Downtown Development Require?

John Hawley

Sep 14, 2026

The Development Divide Part VII

Jacksonville's redevelopment of Downtown continues to accelerate. So does the debate over how much taxpayers should contribute to make individual projects financially viable.

The latest example sits on one of the most prominent pieces of property in the city: Riverfront Plaza, the former Jacksonville Landing site along the St. Johns River.

On Sept. 10, the Downtown Development Review Board unanimously granted conceptual approval to Gateway Jax's proposed 20-story Riverfront Plaza Hotel & Residences, moving the project another step toward construction. The tower is expected to contain 50 to 100 residences, 130 to 170 hotel rooms, food and beverage space and a sky terrace.

But Gateway CEO Bryan Moll has also told City Council and Downtown Investment Authority members something important about the project's finances: Gateway estimates it will need a $20 million completion grant from Jacksonville to build it. No formal incentive request has yet been filed for the tower.

But newly released Downtown Investment Authority documents show the potential public participation goes well beyond that $20 million cash grant.

Gateway is now seeking a package that includes the $20 million completion grant plus a substantial long-term REV grant tied to future property-tax revenue. Published reports differ slightly on the precise REV amount, putting the total Riverfront Plaza package at roughly $55 million to $59 million. The 101 Report will use the final DIA documents to track the controlling amount as the proposal moves forward.

That changes the scale of the discussion. The question is no longer whether Jacksonville should contribute another $20 million toward the tower. It is whether another Gateway development should receive more than $50 million in combined public assistance after the City already approved $98.58 million for Gateway's initial Pearl Square projects.

Gateway Jax Already Has $98.58 Million in Approved Jacksonville Incentives

The Riverfront Plaza discussion doesn't occur in isolation. In August 2024, Jacksonville City Council approved $98.58 million in incentives for Gateway Jax's first four Pearl Square projects. That package included approximately $59.63 million in REV grants and $38.95 million in completion grants.

Those figures represent approved incentive commitments, not $98.58 million already paid to Gateway. REV grants are generally tied to future property-tax generation, while completion grants depend on developers meeting contractual requirements. Gateway has now launched construction on all four projects covered by that package. The distinction between commitments and money already paid is important. So is the cumulative amount of public support being requested.

Gateway Jax's Publix Project Is Seeking About $48 Million More

Gateway and the DIA are simultaneously renegotiating an incentive package for Block N7, the proposed Publix-anchored development at 119 W. Beaver Street. The project is now described at approximately $138.6 million, with the incentive package being renegotiated at roughly $48 million.

That follows earlier DIA consideration of a package approaching $50 million that included a large cash completion grant along with a REV grant. The controversy isn't simply about whether a Downtown Publix would be desirable. A full-service grocery store could be an important amenity for a growing residential Downtown.

The question is how much taxpayers should pay to make the development financially feasible.

Council Finance Committee Chair Will Lahnen has challenged continued reliance on completion grants, arguing that years of commitments have strained the City's ability to pay them as projects reach completion. He and other Council members have favored greater reliance on REV grants, which return a portion of tax revenue generated by a project instead of requiring the same type of cash payout from operating funds.

Now another Gateway project is entering the same conversation.

Riverfront Plaza Could Require More Than $50 Million in Jacksonville Incentives

Gateway has not formally requested the Riverfront Plaza incentive, so it would be inaccurate to add $20 million to Jacksonville's existing commitments. But Moll has publicly estimated that the project will need it.

The $20 million figure represents only the proposed completion grant. Newly released DIA documents also contemplate a substantial REV grant, which would return a portion of the project's future incremental property-tax revenue to the developer over time.

That's an important distinction. A completion grant requires a City payment once contractual requirements are satisfied. A REV grant is performance-based and paid from future tax generation. They shouldn't be treated as financially identical—but both are forms of public participation in the project.

Jacksonville Already Made a Deal to Put Gateway Jax on Riverfront Plaza

Riverfront Plaza also differs from an ordinary private development site. Gateway obtained the 1.26-acre development pad from the City through a land exchange completed in December 2025. Gateway had purchased the former Interline Brands property at 801 W. Bay Street for $4 million in October 2024. Jacksonville wanted that property for the University of Florida graduate campus in LaVilla, so the City exchanged the Riverfront Plaza development pad for Gateway's Interline property. The City subsequently transferred the Bay Street property to UF.

Gateway, meanwhile, committed as part of the agreement to construct at least a 17-story hotel and residential toweron Riverfront Plaza. The current design has grown to 20 stories. That history makes the potential $20 million completion grant particularly interesting. Jacksonville didn't simply encounter a developer that independently bought riverfront land and later discovered it needed assistance. The City and Gateway negotiated an exchange specifically intended to produce private development on this publicly owned riverfront site. And the possibility of incentives was contemplated early.

In February 2025, before Council ultimately approved the land swap, Moll estimated that the tower would require $20 million in completion grants plus an undetermined amount of REV assistance. City legislation subsequently capped the potential completion grant at $20 million. So the potential subsidy isn't a new surprise. It's part of a financial question that has accompanied the project from near the beginning.

The Riverfront Plaza Land Swap Also Produced Public Benefits

There is another side to the equation. Jacksonville wanted the Interline property to help establish the UF graduate campus, and the land swap helped make that happen. UF is now holding classes there.

Gateway's tower could also activate a high-profile portion of the riverfront with residents, hotel guests, restaurants and visitors.

Supporters have argued that without private development of the pad, Jacksonville could have faced another $5 million to $10 million in costs to incorporate the site into Riverfront Plaza's park design.

The tower therefore shouldn't be analyzed as though the City receives nothing in return. The appropriate question is whether the total public contribution is proportionate to the public benefit.

Jacksonville Is Already Spending Heavily on Riverfront Plaza

The tower will also sit beside a substantial taxpayer-funded public investment.

The first phase of Riverfront Plaza cost approximately $38 million, and construction is underway on a second phase costing another $46 million. That's roughly $84 million in public park investment before considering a possible development incentive for the private tower.

Those park expenditures aren't Gateway incentives. They are public infrastructure and should not be presented as money given to the developer. But economically, the investments interact. A high-quality public riverfront park can make adjacent private property more valuable. At the same time, a hotel, restaurants and residences can bring people into the park and help create the activity Jacksonville wants along its riverfront.

That's what public-private development is supposed to accomplish. The question is how the gains and risks are divided.

Hotel Merrydelle Adds Another Gateway Jax Financing Proposal

Riverfront Plaza isn't the only Gateway-related proposal moving through DIA. Newly released documents also contemplate a $15 million City development loan for Hotel Merrydelle, another Gateway project Downtown. Unlike a grant, the proposed loan would be repayable over 20 years, although at a below-market 1% interest rate.

The distinction matters: a repayable development loan should not be counted as though Jacksonville were giving Gateway another $15 million. But it adds another form of public financing to a growing portfolio of City-supported Gateway projects—and reinforces the need to examine Jacksonville's cumulative exposure, not simply each transaction in isolation.

Jacksonville's Completion Grant Problem Is Bigger Than Gateway Jax

Gateway is also part of a much broader issue facing Jacksonville. Earlier this year, DIA identified potential Downtown developments that collectively could generate nearly $225 million in completion-grant requests if all moved forward.

That helps explain why Council members have become increasingly concerned about cash grants.

A REV grant largely pays from the success of the development itself: the project generates additional property taxes and Jacksonville returns an agreed portion of that incremental revenue. A completion grant is different.

Once contractual conditions are satisfied, the City has to find the money to make the payment. One subsidized project may be manageable. So may five. But as Downtown redevelopment accelerates, Jacksonville increasingly faces the cumulative consequences of incentives approved at different times for projects that may reach completion—and require payment—within overlapping budget years.

When Should Downtown Development Need Fewer Subsidies?

There is a legitimate argument for aggressive public investment during the early stages of Downtown redevelopment. Jacksonville spent decades watching projects stall, buildings deteriorate and Downtown population growth lag behind competing cities.

Public incentives can help overcome financing gaps, attract private capital and create enough development momentum to change market perceptions. But that strategy creates its own test of success. If public subsidies work, shouldn't the market eventually require fewer of them?

Gateway's Pearl Square projects are moving forward. Riverfront Plaza has undergone major public investment. UF has opened its Downtown graduate campus. The stadium renovation is underway. New residential projects are adding population. Hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues are being planned or built.

At some point, increasing public investment should improve the economics of surrounding private development. Otherwise Jacksonville risks creating a different model: each publicly supported project becomes part of the justification for publicly supporting the next one.

Gateway Jax Makes the Question Easier to Measure

Gateway provides an unusually useful case study because the same development platform is involved in multiple major Downtown projects. Jacksonville approved $98.58 million for the first Pearl Square phase.

Gateway is negotiating roughly another $48 million for N7.

And Gateway says its Riverfront Plaza tower could require another $20 million completion grant. Meanwhile, the City exchanged property with Gateway to facilitate both the tower and UF's graduate campus. None of those facts establishes that Jacksonville is getting a bad deal. But together they make it reasonable to ask officials to calculate something taxpayers rarely see presented in one place: What is Jacksonville's total public investment in Gateway-related projects, what private investment has that public support produced, and what measurable return has taxpayers' investment generated so far?

That calculation should distinguish cash grants, REV grants, land transactions, infrastructure expenditures and other forms of public participation rather than collapsing fundamentally different investments into one headline number.

The Development Divide: At What Point Does Downtown Stand on Its Own?

Jacksonville's Downtown strategy is no longer theoretical. Buildings are rising. Residents are moving in. UF students are attending classes. Riverfront Plaza is taking shape. Those are tangible results. But success shouldn't be measured only by cranes, construction costs or the number of projects receiving approval.

It should also be measured by whether previous public investments are creating a market capable of supporting more private development with less taxpayer assistance.

Gateway's Riverfront Plaza tower may ultimately prove worthy of a $20 million completion grant. Its hotel, residences and restaurants could strengthen Downtown and increase the value of surrounding public investment. But that case should be made with numbers.

Jacksonville taxpayers should know the project's expected private return, public return, tax generation, financing gap and why a project on newly developed public riverfront next to an approximately $84 million public park—still requires another substantial taxpayer contribution. Because after years of Downtown incentives, the question is changing. It is no longer simply: What will it take to get Downtown development started? Increasingly, it is: At what point is Downtown supposed to stand on its own?