DECEMBER 18 TO DECEMBER 24, 2025 | JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
BUSINESS & LEGAL NEWS IN BAKER, CLAY, DUVAL, NASSAU AND ST. JOHNS COUNTIES
TARBERT’S TARGET
INSIDE
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Colin Tarbert questions whether momentum will hit a tipping point at 10,000 residents and shares his goal for bringing vitality to the city’s core.
THE MATHIS REPORT
Khan family picks out Four Seasons penthouses PAGE 8
GROCERIES
H Mart may be preparing to open store in Jacksonville PAGE 4
Photo by Joe Lister
Jacksonville Downtown Investment CEO Colin Tarbert stands outside City Hall at 117 W. Duval St. The longtime Baltimore development executive was hired in August to lead the city’s efforts to revitalize Downtown.
BY RIC ANDERSON MANAGING EDITOR
F
or decades, Jacksonville residents were told that Downtown revitalization would reach a tipping point when 10,000 people were living in the city’s core. The new head of the Downtown Investment Authority offers a different message.
“I don’t know if it’s the magic number,” CEO Colin Tarbert said of the 10,000 threshold. Tarbert, who joined the DIA in August, said he believes a key to success is creating critical mass in and around what is traditionally considered Downtown, versus the entire footprint that includes Brooklyn and the Southbank. “If you build RiversEdge (a mixed-use development on the Southbank) and on
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the Duval County Public Schools site, how much is that really going to transition to Laura Street? I’m not sure,” he said. Laura Street is in the heart of the Downtown core on the Northbank. Tarbert said he’s focused on doubling the population to 8,000 in the area spanning LaVilla, City Center, NorthCore, SEE TARBERT, PAGE 10
DEVELOPMENT
Racing venue planned in Nassau North Florida Motorsports Park is a 600-acre project that will feature a racetrack designed by Hall of Famer Bobby Rahal. PAGE 6
THE BASCH REPORT
Kroger CEO talks entry into town Ronald Sargent shares insights into his company’s expansion in Northeast Florida via Harris Teeter. PAGE 15 AWARDS
2026 Small Business Leaders of the Year One of Jax Chamber’s 11 selections will be crowned the overall winner in January. PAGE 3 REAL ESTATE
Corner Lot CEO sells Boyer house Andy Allen sold his historic River Road home about five months after buying it. PAGE 14
VOLUME 113, NO. 6 | TWO SECTIONS | PUBLISHED SINCE 1912