Jax Evolved

In our Jax Evolved series, we take a detailed look at successful adaptive reuse projects from the Jacksonville area - many of which happen to be located within downtown Jax and the urban core. Each of the buildings featured has some form of historic value and has been repurposed to fill a new need after its original tenant(s) moved on.

JAX EVOLVED: St. James Building

The St. James Building, located at 117 W. Duval St. in downtown Jacksonville, is one of the country’s most beautiful city halls. But the building has a much longer history than its relatively short stint as the center of Jacksonville’s city government. The building sits on a site once occupied...

JAX EVOLVED: Five Points’ Park Arcade Building

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the buildings along the main stretch of Five Points have been around for a long time. The popular cultural center of Riverside has a lengthy history dating back nearly one hundred years. But one building, the Park Arcade Building, is often...

JAX EVOLVED: From Western Union to MOCA

The Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA Jacksonville, has become one of the most important pieces of downtown Jacksonville's culture since opening in the early 2000s. However, its historic building has lived long beyond its current use as MOCA's home. The history of the building at 333 N. Laura Street...

Jax Evolved: From Kress to Farah & Farah

10 West Adams Street has served as the home for Farah & Farah's downtown Jacksonville operations for nearly two decades, but like many downtown buildings it had a long life before its current tenants showed up. The building at 10 West Adams began its life way back in 1912, when...

Jax Evolved: 11 East Forsyth

The 11 East Forsyth building is one of downtown Jacksonville's primary apartment complexes, but it didn't always serve that purpose. Originally constructed in 1926, the building began its life as the Lynch Building. It was named in honor of Stephen Andrew Lynch, an entrepreneur who'd previously played a key role in the...

Jax Evolved: From Union Terminal to Prime Osborn Convention Center

Sitting along the outskirts of LaVilla and Brooklyn, the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center has been around for nearly a century - albeit not always in its current form. The building was originally constructed in 1919 as the Union Terminal. It replaced the former railroad station located on the...

Jax Evolved: From San Jose Hotel to The Bolles School

Sitting between San Jose Boulevard and the St. Johns River, The Bolles School's San Jose campus is home to one of the state's top high schools and one of the country's best sports programs. While at this point it's hard to imagine anything other than Bolles' rowdy Friday night football games...

Jax Evolved: Aardwolf Brewing Company Building

The old South Jacksonville Utilities building, now home to Aardwolf Brewing Company, sits along Hendricks Avenue as a reminder of a time when that corridor acted as the center of South Jacksonville. South Jacksonville was a city incorporated following the Great Fire of 1901. It sprung up quickly along stretches...

Jax Evolved: From Normandy Mall to Kingdom Plaza

There was a time in Jacksonville's history where the city was inundated with shopping malls. During this time period - specifically, the sixties - five different malls were constructed within a decade of each other. One of these malls was Normandy Mall, located a little over five miles from the center of...

Jax Evolved: Carnegie-Bedell Building

In the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1901, many of Jacksonville's most important buildings were damaged or even destroyed. One of the buildings ruined by the fire was the city's library, which had first opened only a couple of decades earlier. A local lawyer wrote to Andrew Carnegie, steel...

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