A St. Augustine-based development company has purchased five parcels of downtown land that includes the abandoned Ambassador Hotel.
The developers plan to renovate the hotel — which is on the National Register of Historic Places — and build 200 apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space nearby.
Axis Hotels LLC, which is associated with Augustine Development Group, bought the roughly 1.5 acres between Duval, Julia, Church and Pearl Streets for $5.4 million, according to the deed filed Friday.
The building that housed the Ambassador Hotel, which had opened in 1924 as the first upscale hotel in Jacksonville, has been abandoned since 1998. The hotel is located at 420 N. Julia St.
Augustine Development Group president Bryan Greiner said the company plans to renovate it into a four- or five-star hotel with 100 rooms and a rooftop bar.
Greiner is leading the project along with Axis Hotels CEO George Bochis. They’ve picked Orlando-based SMC Construction as the general contractor.
Fifteen percent of those rooms will be suites.
Greiner said the hotel will be franchised, but declined to name which company it will be until a later date. The development group’s hotel management company, Integrity Hospitality, will run operations.
The building next door at 404 N. Julia St. will be demolished so that the company can build a 200-unit, one- and two-bedroom apartment complex. On the ground level will be 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Greiner said they plan to file the application for a permit to demolish the building as soon as next week.
The group decided to invest in downtown because of its business-friendly environment and because of increased development in the area, such as the Barnett building and Laura Street Trio renovations, Greiner said.
“We’ve been talking with the Downtown Investment Authority, and they’ve been very welcoming and very supportive,” Greiner said.
They are exploring options for incentives to help with the project.
The property sale was brokered by Harrigan Properties Inc.’s Michael Harrigan.
