Jaguars Owner Shad Khan purportedly is now focusing on the Shipyards project adjacent from Lot JGETTY IMAGES
The plan to have the city of Jacksonville invest $245M in Jaguars Owner Shad Khan's Lot J project has been defeated after "failing to win the supermajority necessary to move forward," according to Wilson & Brown of the JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Yesterday's vote on the $450M project proposed by Khan's Gecko Investments and The Cordish Companies was "slated to bring 40,000 square feet of Class A office space, a 150- to 250-room hotel, 400 residential units built in two buildings, a 750-space parking lot, two 350-space parking garages, a 100,000-square-foot Live! entertainment district and street-level retail to the parking lot near TIAA Bank Field." Throughout the months that the project has been discussed, the Jaguars and Mayor Lenny Curry's administration have "painted the project as a necessity for the Jaguars -- even going so far as to float the idea that the team may leave if the deal did not go through." Jaguars President Mark Lamping suggested that the Jaguars and Khan "would be moving away from Lot J and focusing on other projects, most notably the proposed development at the Shipyards and Metropolitan Park, across the street from the stadium." However, Wilson & Brown noted that project also will "seek city involvement." The proposed Shipyards project is "located directly adjacent from Lot J across Bay Street," where Khan and Cordish have "plans to construct a Four Seasons hotel, a medical center and retail space" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/12).
BACKGROUND: In Jacksonville, Christopher Hong notes the "surprising vote bookended a turbulent month for the effort to pass the deal, which faced increasing opposition and scrutiny that derailed a final vote scheduled before the end of the year." Although the deal "appeared to be on track to pass last week when it secured 15 votes in a non-binding committee vote, it lost that momentum" during yesterday's meeting. The deal was among the "most lucrative the city had ever proposed giving a private developer, and it would have seen taxpayers provide the developers $208 million in cash." The Council's auditors indicated that the city "would have taken on debt to cover the payments, and the cost of interest would have pushed the total cost as high as $390 million" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/13).
