Business

A development team led by Jacobs Engineering Group resubmitted a $550 million unsolicited proposal to the city for a convention center at The Ford on Bay site as the Downtown Investment Authority prepares to vote on rejecting the proposal July 15.

Hakimian Holdings Inc. intends to start upgrading the Promenade Shopping Center in the fourth quarter for full conversion into the Gates of the Promenade, add more retail space and sell some of the property for apartments.

Another store at the St. Johns Town Center has apparently permanently closed.

Amazon has announced it has signed three new leases across Florida, including one in Jacksonville for the former Kmart building at 4645 Blanding Blvd. on the city’s Westside.

A Minneapolis-based developer closed on 1.5 acres to build JEA’s next corporate headquarters in Downtown Jacksonville.

Bogey Grille, which has been a fixture in Ponte Vedra Beach for more than 16 years, will be going out of business later this week.

The nation's largest movie theater chain is delaying its U.S. reopening until the end of July because film companies have postponed release dates of two anticipated blockbusters.

The city approved a permit June 25 for the $14 million construction of the Lofts at Murray Hill apartments.

Gas prices are likely to remain low during the summer travel season in Florida.

The Microsoft Store at the St. Johns Town Center is permanently closing, along with the seven other stores it operates across Florida.

Jacksonville-based supermarket chain Winn-Dixie is getting national attention due to its name. The word “Dixie” is a nickname for the Civil War-era South. 

A study out this week by Blacktower Financial Management Group ranked Florida at the top of the 50 states for retirees in 2020.

The Jacksonville City Council approved spending $16.54 million to help 72 nonprofit and for-profit businesses suffering revenue losses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city is reviewing a building permit application for the site of Ruby Beach Brewing Co. at 228 E. Forsyth St. Downtown.

There could be new life for an old mall and a new beat in the heart of Arlington’s retail center.

Jacksonville’s alternative weekly newspaper is making a comeback.

In a special meeting May 21, the JEA board unanimously approved plans for a six-story headquarters with 153,000 rentable square feet, and amended a lease agreement with Ryan to reduce the utility’s gross rent cost by $27 million over 15 years and lower construction costs by $10 million to $14 million.

Augustine Development Group’s request for a $3 million Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant to redevelop the Independent Life Building will move to the full Downtown Investment Authority board for final approval.

DIA’s Strategic Implementation Committee voted unanimously June 11 to approve the term sheet for the grant, according to WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. appears to be working toward opening a distribution warehouse in Freebird Commerce Center in North Jacksonville.

It’s looking more likely that the Republican National Convention will be moved to Jacksonville in August.

Jacksonville is the only metropolitan statistical area in Florida to show a rise in construction employment between March and April, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

Bars, tattoo shops and movie theaters can partially reopen Friday in most of the state, as Gov. Ron DeSantis moves into the second phase of his plan to revive the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following a 95% decline in passenger volumes because of COVID-19, Jacksonville International Airport is postponing its Concourse B expansion.

GuideWell is hiring is hiring 1,200 licensed health insurance agents to prepare for the fall open enrollment period. 

The Church of Eleven22 is moving ahead with plans to open a North Jacksonville campus at Oceanway Crossing in North Jacksonville.

Jacksonville-based Forcura announced May 27 it will add 115 jobs by the end of 2022 and open a new headquarters in the city with help from an economic development agreement Project Graph, which City Council unanimously approved in March.

Four former Lucky's Markets and four former Earth Fare stores in Florida, including one in Jacksonville, will become Winn-Dixies.

As bad as the unemployment numbers are, the Jacksonville metropolitan area’s four big counties are all doing better than the state as a whole.