Local Landmark Designation in Jacksonville, Florida

A Jacksonville local landmark is a single building, site or sign that the City Council has designated as historic by ordinance, separate from the city's historic districts in Springfield and Riverside Avondale. The designation is the city's own and is separate from federal recognition: downtown Jacksonville's 2016 National Register District nomination had already recognized the Independent Life building, yet local landmark status still took its own Council vote in 2020. The Historic Preservation Section of the Planning Department says it reviews work in the local historic districts and impacts to registered local landmarks through the Certificate of Appropriateness process, under the Historic Preservation Element of the Comprehensive Plan.

Two bodies share the job. The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, usually called the JHPC, is responsible for recommending the designation of local landmarks and districts to the City Council and for reviewing certain Certificate of Appropriateness applications. The Council makes the decision. Chapter 76 of the Jacksonville Ordinance Code creates the commission, and Chapter 307, Historic Preservation and Protection, sets out designation and review. Jacksonville takes part in the Certified Local Government program run by the Florida Department of State, which requires the staff and commission to report their activities every year.

The process begins with identification. Among the JHPC's duties listed by the city are an ongoing survey and inventory of historic buildings, areas and archaeological sites in Jacksonville, and identifying potential landmarks and potential landmark sites to recommend to the City Council. A standing Landmarking Committee of the commission is charged with identifying potential landmarks, landmark sites and landmark signs, giving information to their owners, and promoting landmark designation to interested owners. That committee met seven times in 2026 through August, and posted a public meeting for Sept. 16, 2026 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 1002 of the Ed Ball Building on North Hogan Street.

Owners can start the process too. In the Independent Life case downtown, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported that the owner requested designation, the JHPC voted unanimously on Jan. 22, 2020 to recommend local landmark status, and Council President Scott Wilson introduced Ordinance 2020-0139 on Feb. 25 at the commission's request. A Planning Department staff report goes to the commission, which holds a public hearing and votes on whether the property meets the criteria in Chapter 307.

The criteria are spelled out in each application. The Daily Record account of the Greenleaf & Crosby Building's 2023 application lists five of the seven criteria that building met: its value as a significant reminder of the cultural, historical, architectural or archaeological heritage of the city, state or nation; identification as the work of a master builder, designer or architect; recognized quality of architecture with enough original elements left; distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style; and suitability for preservation or restoration. A property does not have to meet all seven.

From the commission, the ordinance goes through the City Council's Land Use and Zoning Committee and then to the full Council, which has the final say. In the Arlington bank case, the Daily Record noted that the designation still awaited the Mayor's signature and could be appealed by the property owner to Circuit Court, so a Council vote in Jacksonville is the last step at City Hall but not always the last word.

The Independent Life Insurance Company Building on West Duval Street is a downtown example. The Jacksonville Daily Record reported that the City Council voted 19-0 on April 28, 2020 to designate the 19-story tower a local landmark, easing the way toward a planned $28 million conversion to apartments and retail. The building was completed in 1955 and designed by KBJ Architects, the firm behind 17 of Jacksonville's tallest buildings, according to city documents cited by the paper. Independent Life moved out in 1975, and the Jacksonville Electric Authority bought the Duval Street building in 1976 and stayed into the 1990s. Landmark status qualified it for the city's Downtown Historic Preservation Trust Fund grants.

The Greenleaf & Crosby Building at Laura and Adams streets followed in 2023. On July 26, 2023 the JHPC voted 5-0 to recommend designating the 12-story building, built in 1927 by the Marsh & Saxelbye architectural firm, and sent the recommendation to the City Council. The jewelry business behind the name goes back to Damon Greenleaf, who came to Jacksonville in 1867 and opened a store on Bay Street; after the Great Fire of 1901 destroyed the original building, the firm moved to another Bay Street location before building on Laura Street during the Florida Land Boom. For decades the ground floor housed Jacobs Jewelers, which closed in March 2023.

The most contested recent case was in Arlington. The Daily Record reported that on Dec. 12, 2023 the Council voted 17-0 for Ordinance 2023-0701, designating the former Arlington Federal Savings & Loan building at University Boulevard North and the Arlington Expressway as a historic landmark, after unanimous approval by the JHPC and the Land Use and Zoning Committee. The owner had sought to demolish it for a car wash and opposed designation; the neighborhood group Old Arlington Inc. pushed for it. The single-story bank, designed in the mid-century modern style by Miami architect Edwin T. Reeder, is known for the triangle-and-diamond pattern of its precast concrete facade, and the paper reported it was the first building in Arlington and the first mid-century modern building in Jacksonville to receive historic protection.

The main change is review of outside work. According to the historic preservation FAQ, a Certificate of Appropriateness is required for all properties within the historic districts as well as locally designated landmarks, for any exterior work such as repairing windows and siding and for site work such as fencing, driveways and sheds. Interior work that does not touch the exterior needs no COA. An approved COA is valid for one year, and for five years once work has begun. Applications are filed online through the city's LUZAP portal.

Smaller jobs are approved by staff in a week or two. Larger requests go to the full commission, including demolition of contributing structures, new construction, two-story garages and two-story additions. The JHPC generally meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, except in November and December, and applications needing commission review should be filed about six weeks ahead, around the 15th of the month before. As of October 2026 the commission fee is $315.00 for alterations, $495.00 for additions, new construction or relocation, and $610.00 for a demolition request, and each fee doubles when the application follows a notice of violation for work started without approval.

Neglect is covered as well. The city's preservation resources point to Chapter 307 sections on unsafe structure abatement, on mothballing vacant structures and on civil enforcement, so an owner cannot simply let a Jacksonville landmark fall apart to get around demolition review. Whether a particular property is a landmark can be checked on the city's Land Development Map by address or Real Estate number, using the Historic layer.

The Planning Department offers two programs for locally designated properties. The first is the Historic Preservation Property Tax Exemption, a limited-time partial exemption on the added value from an approved improvement project. The Property Appraiser explains that only the City of Jacksonville's millage is applied to the lower taxable value; every other taxing authority still applies its millage to the full renovated value. The work must meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, staff should review the project before work starts, and each exemption needs City Council approval.

The second is the REHAB fund, short for Restore Endangered Historic Adaptable Buildings, created to give owners of historic commercial buildings a reason to rehabilitate rather than demolish. Guidelines adopted by Ordinance 2023-316 and amended by Ordinance 2024-0847 cap a grant at $100,000. The building must be at least 50 years old, income-producing, mixed-use or owned by a nonprofit, outside the Downtown Area, and declared critically endangered by the JHPC; it must also be a local landmark, a contributing district structure, or a potential landmark approved by the Council before the grant is final. The 2026 application deadline was June 30, 2026. Downtown buildings such as the Greenleaf & Crosby and Independent Life buildings instead look to the Downtown Investment Authority's preservation programs.

The Mayor of Jacksonville appoints all seven members for three-year terms, and to keep Certified Local Government standing the commission is meant to include, to the extent available, three people trained or practicing in architecture, history, architectural history, planning, archaeology or a related field. The city's October 2026 roster lists Ethan W. Gregory as chair, William Hoff as vice chair, Julia Epstein as secretary, and Thomas Love and C. Doug Lane as members, with Arimus Wells as the Planning Department's manager for historic planning and preservation. The commission's next posted meeting is Oct. 28, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 1002 of the Ed Ball Building at 214 North Hogan Street. Last verified: October 9, 2026, on the City of Jacksonville website.