Hotel Merrydelle, Tribute Portfolio

The Ambassador Hotel, a six-storey 1924 apartment building at 420 North Julia Street that has been closed since 1998, is being rebuilt by Gateway Jax as Hotel Merrydelle, a 109-room Tribute Portfolio hotel with The Indigo Road Hospitality Group as operating partner. Opening is targeted for summer 2027. It is presented as the first lifestyle hotel in downtown Jacksonville.

The place

420 North Julia Street in downtown Jacksonville, a six-storey brick building on a site of less than one acre, designed by Hentz, Reid and Adler in a Georgian Revival style with Beaux-Arts elements. The renovation plans to turn the main entrance back toward its original Church Street side, tying the hotel to adjacent public spaces including Porter House Lawn and Garden and Klutho's Alley.

The building has stood vacant for years, its windows removed and its interior exposed to the weather. The project also promises wider sidewalks, streetscape work and more tree canopy around the block.

The concept

This is a reconversion, not a new build. The building went up in 1923-1924 as upscale apartments, became a hotel in 1944 and ran under several names (Three-Ten Hotel, Hotel Southland, Griner Hotel) before it settled on Ambassador Hotel in 1955. It declined with downtown Jacksonville, ended up as low-rent single-room occupancy housing and closed in 1998. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 7 April 1983 and is also a local landmark.

Gateway Jax bought the full city block in February 2025 for $17 million. In April 2026 it announced an agreement with Marriott International and The Indigo Road Hospitality Group to reopen the property as Hotel Merrydelle, part of Tribute Portfolio, with 109 rooms, and a renovation announced at about $50 million. The name honours Merrydelle Hoyt, a founder of the Jacksonville Fine Arts Society, whose group's efforts led to what is now the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville. Campo Architecture & Interior Design of New Orleans is architect and interior designer of record; Avant Construction Group is the contractor named on the permit.

A selective interior demolition permit of $221,000 was issued on 8 June 2026, and the city was reviewing the full renovation permit in August, scoped at $15.8 million of work covering interior demolition, facade repair and cleaning, new windows and a new roof. Gateway Jax has said it is seeking about $10 million in city incentives from the Downtown Investment Authority and projects a return of $2 for each $1 invested through bed, sales and property taxes. The target opening is summer 2027.

Dining & wellness

Announced plans include Colletta, a 120-seat restaurant serving fired pizzas, house-made pasta, antipasti, Italian wines and cocktails, and a coffee and pastry shop. Interior columns and fixtures are to carry wood paneling.