Jacksonville’s Brooklyn riverfront has a new center of gravity. One Riverside has reshaped the 18-acre former Florida Times-Union campus into a $250 million, mixed-use waterfront hub that stitches together 271 luxury apartments, roughly 39,000 square feet of riverfront retail anchored by Whole Foods, a 600-car garage and new parkland connected to a restored McCoys Creek.
What Was Built On The Times-Union Site
The first phase stacks together 271 apartments, 39,256 square feet of retail with Whole Foods as the main anchor, an upscale riverfront restaurant and a 600-space parking structure. “The impact of this project is all about location location location,” Rick Hall said. Those project details are documented in coverage of the redevelopment, according to CoStar.
Developers leaned into the site’s vantage point on the river and the emerging Brooklyn neighborhood, pitching the project as both a place to live and a waterfront hangout that does not go dark after office hours.
City Buy-In And McCoys Creek Restoration
The public side of the deal is not small. The city is restoring McCoys Creek and adding roughly 4.95 acres of public parkland that will connect to the Emerald Trail, according to the Downtown Investment Authority. That connection is meant to keep One Riverside from feeling like a standalone island and instead tie it into the broader riverfront and trail network.
The DIA has highlighted how coordinated land sales and agency incentives helped make the phased plan pencil out, framing the project as a model for pairing private investment with creek restoration and public access.
Retail Tenants And Neighborhood Impact
On the ground floor, leasing brought in a roster of new-to-market names: Norikawa Japanese Restaurant, Solidcore, Demma Aesthetics medical spa, Face Bar and The Salty Donut. Brokers say that lineup is a sign downtown is finally pulling fresh retail interest, according to CoStar…