The Jaguars will team up with Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. for "construction of a brand-new, skyline-defining neighborhood" that will cost $2.5B and occupy 4.5 million square feet of space, according to a front-page piece by Bauerlein & Patterson of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The planned development would "start in Lot J near the football stadium and eventually stretch all the way to the St. Johns River with clusters of high-rise buildings that would have hotel, office, residential and convention space." The development would "require financial support from the city, though there were no specifics rolled out" Thursday for the type or amount of taxpayer assistance. Cordish Principal & VP Blake Cordish said that completing the build-out could "take a generation." The plan labels the building closest to the stadium as "an arena with the 'Live!' branding used by Cordish for its venues, reinforcing efforts to cultivate an entertainment district within downtown's sports complex." A hotel is shown in the plans "just south of the arena." Jags President Mark Lamping said that hotel "might include residential areas" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 4/20). In Baltimore, Junior Skepple reported the Jags "did not announce a timetable for the project," which could eventually be incorporated into Owner Shahid Khan's plans for the Shipyards/Metropolitan Park land across the street from the stadium. Lamping said that one possible sticking point of the development is the "need for the elevated Hart Bridge Expressway lanes to be removed" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/19). Also in Baltimore, Christina Tkacik notes the Jacksonville project will be the "latest in a string of stadium-related [developments] for Cordish." The company is "involved in similar developments outside ballparks and sports arenas" in Arlington, Atlanta, K.C., Philadelphia and St. Louis (BALTIMORE SUN, 4/20).
Planned development would start next to TIAA Bank Field and stretch all the way to the St. Johns Riverjaguars
