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Record of Proceedings

Council Workshop on N7 Publix and Pearl Square Development - October 22, 2026

City Council — Thursday, October 22, 2026
BodyJacksonville, Florida
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, October 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 58:40

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:23

Let's go ahead and start.

0:24

Um there's a TDC member uh meeting going on this morning, and there's a so there's some council members in that, maybe two or three, and then there's um

Unassigned speaker

0:35

uh

Speaker 1

0:35

waterways commission, and there's maybe one or two in there, and then uh everybody else, I don't know where they're at, but they everybody was invited.

0:46

Um but what I'd like to do is just uh introduce everybody who's up here, and we'll just start with Ms.

0:58

Trimmer.

0:58

I want to thank Councilmember Peluso for um, he's the co um, he's the co um whatever you would.

1:09

He's he's jointly doing this notice meeting with me, is basically what I'm trying to say, and I appreciate him.

1:15

So thanks.

1:17

Um

Speaker 2

1:19

Cindy Trimmer, Driver McAfee, Council for Hately Jackson

Speaker 3

1:25

Brian Maul, CEO of Gateway Jacks uh 100 North Lawrence Street downtown.

Speaker 1

1:31

And my name is Matt Carluccia, I'm a city councilman at large, group four.

Speaker 4

1:38

Okay, thank you.

Speaker 1

1:39

And I see we have uh a lot of members from the DIA out in the audience.

1:43

Why don't you all hold up your hands?

1:46

Okay, Wade in the back, and we got members of the administration are here.

1:51

Uh way uh Laura's y'all's hands, and then we have uh some council aides uh here.

1:59

Raise your hands.

Unassigned speaker

2:01

I

Speaker 1

2:02

know you're out there,

Speaker 3

2:03

okay.

Speaker 1

2:04

And we have our

Unassigned speaker

2:05

uh

Speaker 1

2:06

council uh office general counsel is represented here and our council auditors who I always like to be

Unassigned speaker

2:12

here.

Unassigned speaker

2:13

Uh

Speaker 1

2:13

council auditors and OGC.

2:16

You can't live with them,

Unassigned speaker

2:17

and

Speaker 1

2:17

you can't live without them sometimes, but I always lean hard on

Unassigned speaker

2:21

them,

Speaker 1

2:22

and I always wind up bending to their will because they're most always 100% right.

2:28

Um I have some remarks, and I'm gonna read my remarks because I want to make sure I say everything exactly the way I want to say them.

2:38

And uh, and although we don't have my colleagues here, hopefully they'll uh get the gist of the meeting somehow.

2:46

I will probably send out my remarks to them, and even if they care to read

Unassigned speaker

2:51

them.

Speaker 1

2:51

Uh but my remarks this morning, and the purpose of this meeting

Unassigned speaker

2:55

is will

Speaker 1

2:56

be explained as

Unassigned speaker

2:58

I

Speaker 1

2:58

go through my remarks.

2:59

I might take a little more

Unassigned speaker

3:00

than

Speaker 1

3:01

um the average given time, but since I happen to have called this meeting, I think I can get away with that.

3:08

Are you okay with that?

3:10

Uh Councilman Peluso.

3:12

Run with it.

3:13

Okay, and then I'll turn it over to you and then we'll um turn it over for the intended purposes, as we'll be explaining my remarks.

3:20

But this meeting is about the N7 uh publics and Pearl Square development here in Jacksonville.

3:29

Um so be

Unassigned speaker

3:31

uh

Speaker 1

3:32

before I get into the N7 Publix and Pearl Square remarks, I'd like to share a few things that are on my heart this morning,

Unassigned speaker

3:41

uh

Speaker 1

3:41

perhaps on my mind as

Unassigned speaker

3:43

well.

Speaker 1

3:44

Uh first I want to apologize to the chairman

Unassigned speaker

3:47

of

Speaker 1

3:47

neighborhoods committee,

Unassigned speaker

3:49

uh

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Downtown Revitalization█████████████████████████████████████████████85%
Public Engagement████8%
Procedural██4%
Historic Preservation█2%
Economic Development█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Council Workshop on N7 Publix and Pearl Square Development - October 22, 2026

City Council At-Large Member Matt Carluccia convened a special workshop on October 22, 2026, to discuss the N7 Publix and Pearl Square development downtown. Joined by Councilmember Peluso (District 7), the meeting featured presentations from the development team (Gateway Jacks) and the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA). The purpose was to build understanding and support for the proposed incentives for the project, which includes a Publix grocery store, apartments, and other mixed-use components.

Discussion Items

  • Councilman Carluccia opened with extended remarks emphasizing the transformative potential of the billion-dollar Pearl Square development, which he called one of the most important opportunities for downtown in his lifetime. He defended the need for public incentives, explaining that development costs downtown are higher due to aging infrastructure, and that incentives attract private investment that expands the tax base for the entire city. He acknowledged the difficulty of conveying this to residents and urged passage of the legislation in November.
  • Councilman Peluso echoed support, sharing his personal experience living in other cities with vibrant downtowns and stressing that downtown investment is crucial for retaining talent and competing with other Southeastern cities.
  • Cindy Trimmer (development team) provided background on the project timeline, starting in 2023, and explained that the incentive request (a completion grant) was thoroughly analyzed with over 12 permutations before settling on the current proposal.
  • Brian Maul (CEO, Gateway Jacks) detailed the scope: nine blocks, over a billion dollars in total investment, with only 7% of total development costs from city incentives. He noted that no incentives have been paid out yet, as they are tied to completed buildings. He projected over 1,250 residential units (2,500-3,000 new residents), 200,000 sq ft of retail (including 35,000 sq ft Publix), 100,000 sq ft of office, two hotels, and an acre of open space.
  • Colin Tarbert (CEO, DIA) affirmed DIA's underwriting, which projects a return of 1.1 to 1.45 times on the investment from property tax alone, and called the N7 block the linchpin for downtown revitalization.

The development team also cited a UNF economist (Dr. Gallo) who confirmed their analysis showing that grocery stores in urban walkable areas increase property values by 4-7% within half a mile, translating to $335 million in additional property tax revenue over 30 years for the city. They added that the completion grant for N7 is intended to be the last such grant from the general fund.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken; the meeting served as an informational workshop aimed at the media, the public, and absent council members.
  • Councilman Carluccia committed to sending his remarks to colleagues and encouraged them to support the project.
  • Councilman Peluso noted the importance of the project to his downtown district and urged approval.
  • The development team reiterated that Project N7 is critical to unlocking future private development downtown without further general fund support.

Meeting Transcript

Let's go ahead and start. Um there's a TDC member uh meeting going on this morning, and there's a so there's some council members in that, maybe two or three, and then there's um uh waterways commission, and there's maybe one or two in there, and then uh everybody else, I don't know where they're at, but they everybody was invited. Um but what I'd like to do is just uh introduce everybody who's up here, and we'll just start with Ms. Trimmer. I want to thank Councilmember Peluso for um, he's the co um, he's the co um whatever you would. He's he's jointly doing this notice meeting with me, is basically what I'm trying to say, and I appreciate him. So thanks. Um Cindy Trimmer, Driver McAfee, Council for Hately Jackson Brian Maul, CEO of Gateway Jacks uh 100 North Lawrence Street downtown. And my name is Matt Carluccia, I'm a city councilman at large, group four. Okay, thank you. And I see we have uh a lot of members from the DIA out in the audience. Why don't you all hold up your hands? Okay, Wade in the back, and we got members of the administration are here. Uh way uh Laura's y'all's hands, and then we have uh some council aides uh here. Raise your hands. I know you're out there, okay. And we have our uh council uh office general counsel is represented here and our council auditors who I always like to be here. Uh council auditors and OGC. You can't live with them, and you can't live without them sometimes, but I always lean hard on them, and I always wind up bending to their will because they're most always 100% right. Um I have some remarks, and I'm gonna read my remarks because I want to make sure I say everything exactly the way I want to say them. And uh, and although we don't have my colleagues here, hopefully they'll uh get the gist of the meeting somehow. I will probably send out my remarks to them, and even if they care to read them. Uh but my remarks this morning, and the purpose of this meeting is will be explained as I go through my remarks. I might take a little more than um the average given time, but since I happen to have called this meeting, I think I can get away with that. Are you okay with that? Uh Councilman Peluso. Run with it. Okay, and then I'll turn it over to you and then we'll um turn it over for the intended purposes, as we'll be explaining my remarks. But this meeting is about the N7 uh publics and Pearl Square development here in Jacksonville.

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