Located in Jacksonville, Florida, the RISE Doro apartments are once again open for applications. This comes after the building suffered a devastating fire just days before prospective tenants were scheduled to move in last year.

Greg Blais, the president of RISE, expressed his enthusiasm about reaching this pivotal stage. “We’re excited about that stage of the process to get to this point. I mean, you think about this, we started construction back in January,” Blais stated.

The journey has been tumultuous for the RISE Doro. In January 2024, a fire ravaged the nearly completed building, sparing only the concrete parking garage, rooftop bar, and lobby. True to his word, Blais committed to rebuilding, and construction was back on track a year later.

Coinciding with the reconstruction efforts, an investigative report was released, examining the origins of the fire. While the state fire marshal categorized the cause as undetermined, the report suggested that irregular electrical activity was the ‘most probable cause’ of the blaze.

“That’s an unfortunate event that happened in the past. We’ve all moved on within RISE and our contracting partners,” Blais said.

Blais told First Coast News the new building is essentially the same as the original with the same units and amenities. They are also focusing on filling the available retail space that is available on the ground floor of the building and the rooftop.

“Ideally we’d find a restauranteur who would be interested in both spaces. There’s roughly 5,500 square feet on the ground floor and then the rooftop bar on the roof is about 2,000 to 2,200 square feet, plus the spill out deck. And so it’s going to be a vibrant, exciting space, a rooftop option looking over the river, looking over the stadium and the rest of the sports district,” Blais said.

Prospective tenants can take virtual tours of the building now with hard hat tours expected to be available by the end of the year. Blais said the first phase of tenants are expected to move in March 2026 and the remaining units should be available by the summer of 2026.

“The excitement that this will get to be a part of, and just imagine as perhaps a young professional or even a retired couple that comes down and lives within that environment next to the VyStar with all of its events and the Jumbo Shrimp who had an amazing season this year,” Blais explained.

First Coast News asked Blais what he had to say to anyone who might be weary of renting because of the fire.

“It was an accident that happened. There’s no reason to think that’s going to mar the ability to have a great experience living in the new Doro, so to speak, going forward,” Blais said.