Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s vision for the Shipyards property started the ball rolling for talk of redeveloping the Downtown riverfront site.
Now, he’ll have the chance to follow through on what he began in February.
In a decision that lacked much surprise, Khan’s mixed-use proposal for the site greatly outscored two other submissions, according to results released late Monday afternoon.
Submitted through his Iguana Investments Florida LLC, it received an average score of 77.33 among three members of an evaluation committee.
The next closest, Shitaki Enterprises, received an average of 18.33 for its vision of a super yacht club, marina and festival space. And barely registering was In Him’s concept of a Christian-themed development headlined by a Noah’s Ark replica, which received an average score of 4.
Committee members were Downtown Investment Authority CEO Aundra Wallace, board member Jack Meeks and city Office of Economic Development Director Ted Carter.
The recommendation of Iguana will go to the DIA board Thursday afternoon for approval. Once approved, Wallace could enter negotiations with the firm.
“It’s the best proposal but you still have to negotiate the best terms for the city,” Wallace said.
Khan’s 68-page proposal falls in line with many of the themes his February presentation addressed: residential, commercial and public space; a hotel; a football-themed public space; a private marina.
The proposal also outlines a conceptual development budget between $428 million to $663 million, all coming from private equity and debt, for components like condominiums, apartments, office, retail, the hotel and marina.
The condos and apartments will have 200-300 units each, the hotel 300-500 rooms and the marina 250-450 slips, although that could increase to 525 slips.
Office space comprises 600,000-900,000 square feet, while the retail and commercial aspects would be 400,000-600,000 square feet. The first phase, which includes residential and retail, is expected to take a little longer than two years.
Public-ownership components, such as parks and public space, the Riverwalk, Hogans Creek and Bay Street improvements, all are shown with “to be determined” price tags. So, too, are public-private partnerships involving the football-themed public space, the USS Adams mooring space and a vague “attraction.”
Overall, the proposal says it will require private investment in excess of $500 million. Paul Harden, Jaguars lobbyist, told City Council members in February the private investment was expected to surpass $1 billion.
The developer would seek property tax dollars the development generates and invest those funds back into the site.
Listed partners include Jacksonville-based planning and engineering firm England-Thims & Miller, architect and design firm Populous, the Driver McAfee Peek Hawthorne law firm and Golder Associates.
On the economic impact side, the investment is expected to generate city revenue of $123 million over 20 years and create more than 2,100 construction jobs and almost 4,500 permanent jobs.
As part of the submission, the city would transfer the Shipyards land to Iguana, which could then transfer it to privately owned components of the master plan at no more than fair market value as of this month.
The city retains liability for the site’s environmental issues.
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