Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Monday the city is “verbally close to an agreement” on an incentives deal for the proposed $500 million Lot J development at TIAA Bank Field.
Curry said he expects an incentives package will be presented to City Council by the end of the summer. He said it will be “a comprehensive plan of what Lot J will look like” and “not piecemeal.”
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, through his development company, Iguana Investments Florida LLC, plans to develop Lot J with a Live! Arena, a 300-unit residential tower, a hotel and an office building.
The city and Khan have been in talks since April, and Curry said negotiators are scheduled to meet again this week.
The incentives, city officials say, could include Recapture Enhanced Value and completion grants.
Jaguars President Mark Lamping said in April that Iguana Investments is targeting groundbreaking by the end of 2019 after the football team’s final home game Dec. 29.
Removal of the Hart Bridge ramps is scheduled to start in January, Curry said.
The ramps are considered by Khan as a barrier to connecting the stadium, Lot J and the Shipyards property east of the Berkman Plaza II and south of Bay Street and Gator Bowl Boulevard along the St. Johns River.
Khan is the master developer of the Shipyards property through Iguana.
“That’s going to drive traffic into Downtown, and it will also enhance the viability of riverfront development,” Curry said. “Not just down by the stadium but all the way down.”
