Issue No. 1 — EverBank stays, 478 homes, and the best land deal in town

Welcome to the first brief. Jacksonville is mid-boom, but the story lives scattered across board agendas, permit filings, and hearing minutes. We read them so you don't have to. For Issue No. 1, we're catching you up on the summer's biggest moves.

The Lead — Deals & Dollars

EverBank stays on Bay Street — without the $9.8 million.

The strangest deal arc of the year, and the most important. Back in February, EverBank told the city that operating its downtown headquarters costs about $1.4 million more per year than a suburban campus would — seven security personnel downtown versus a shared guard in the suburbs, plus parking — and negotiations with the mayor's office produced a proposed $9.8M retention grant ($980K/year across a 10-year lease). Then the Downtown Investment Authority board voted 6–2 against endorsing it.

And in July, EverBank renewed its downtown lease anyway.

Whatever happened between February and July — sharper landlord terms at 301 W. Bay, a different calculus, or simple commitment to the core — the headline outcome is the one that matters: one of Jacksonville's anchor employers looked hard at leaving downtown, and stayed. (Jacksonville Daily Record)

Housing & Neighborhoods

478 homes clear the gauntlet in West Jacksonville. The Yellow Water Road subdivision ran the full course this spring — a unanimous Planning Commission recommendation in May, Council committee approval June 2, and full passage the following week. Notable: after neighbor pushback, the plan was reworked to preserve green space along Yellow Water and cap density at five units an acre, below what the zoning allows. 112.5 acres, developer Partridge Hill Capital. (JDR)

Workforce housing comes to the Eastside. City Council signed off June 9 on the Lattimore family's infill project: 77 residential units and 25,000 square feet of commercial on former light-industrial land — with the developers openly seeking partners to build affordable and workforce housing. Small project, big precedent. (JDR)

58 town homes eye the Southbank. Pier 95 — five- and six-unit buildings on 3.92 acres near the RiversEdge project — took a unanimous conceptual approval from the DDRB in June. Chase Properties developing, Lennar building. Final DDRB approval is the last stop before permits. (JDR)

Downtown & the Riverfront

The Pearl Street District keeps rising. Gateway Jax's $2B+ remake of the North Core hit another milestone in January: an $8.96M permit to build out ground-floor retail and restaurant space in the "lighthouse garage" at 721 N. Pearl St. The district's promise has always been street life, not just towers — this is the street-life part. (JDR)

Still the best land deal in town: the Armada's 6.56 downtown acres for the new soccer stadium — 34 parcels in the Sports & Entertainment District, bought from the city for exactly one dollar, with the building permit issued in January 2025. We'll be watching for vertical progress this fall. (JDR)

Worth Watching

The DDRB and Planning Commission calendars keep filling — we'll be in the agendas every week and flag what matters before it's news. If someone forwarded you this: subscribe at movingjaxforward.com. Ten minutes, once a week, no spin.

Moving Jacksonville Forward is an independent publication from bizooma. Sources: Jacksonville Daily Record and public City of Jacksonville records.