Gateway Jax announces first Pearl Square tenants as nearly $1 billion downtown project nears first residents
Gateway Jax has announced six tenants for ground-floor space at Vandeveer, the first mixed-use residential building in the nearly $1 billion Pearl Square redevelopment in downtown Jacksonville.
The announcement, published July 22 by the Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority, provides the first confirmed details about businesses planned for the building as Gateway Jax targets late-summer 2026 for its first residential move-ins.
Six businesses planned for Vandeveer
Six newly announced tenants are set to occupy ground-floor space in Vandeveer. The announced mix includes a Michelin-recognized restaurant from St. Augustine, an outdoor biergarten, a national bagel concept and a Mediterranean yogurt brand entering Northeast Florida.
The available announcement identifies the tenant mix but does not provide final opening dates for the individual businesses. The businesses are planned tenants and should not be considered open.
Vandeveer is Pearl Square’s first mixed-use residential building. Its ground-floor leasing is a key commercial milestone for a project designed to place housing alongside retail, hospitality and public green space in Jacksonville’s Urban Core.
A nine-block downtown redevelopment
Pearl Square is planned across nine downtown blocks and carries a project value of nearly $1 billion, according to the Downtown Investment Authority. Gateway Jax is developing the project.
The development is intended to combine residences, retail, hospitality and public green space rather than operate solely as a residential project. The newly announced tenants offer a more specific picture of the retail and service uses planned for Vandeveer’s street level.
The Downtown Investment Authority’s July coverage also reported that related Pearl Square construction and adjacent downtown development were advancing during summer 2026. The authority is the city development agency covering the project.
Residential target remains an expectation
Vandeveer was expected to welcome its first residents during late summer 2026. That timing is a target reported in the announcement, not a confirmed move-in date.
No overall completion schedule for Pearl Square was stated in the available source material, and the source excerpt did not provide a final housing-unit count for the redevelopment.
The next stated milestone is the anticipated arrival of Vandeveer residents in late summer 2026. Gateway Jax and the Downtown Investment Authority had not announced individual opening dates for the six ground-floor tenants.
Sources
- Michelin-recognized restaurant, national bagel chain among first Pearl Square tenants, Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority
- Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority News, Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority
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