A Downtown Investment Authority committee is set to consider legislation to start the process of offering the city-owned The Ford on Bay site for new redevelopment proposals.
The Ford on Bay is the footprint of the former Duval County Courthouse, which was demolished in 2019. The mixed-use residential project The Hardwick was planned there but failed to advance.
DIA Resolution 2024-11-01 would establish criteria for disposition of the 2.75-acre Northbank property at 330 E. Bay St. It is on the agenda of the Nov. 14 meeting of the DIA Retail Enhancement and Property Disposition Committee.
The resolution would allow DIA staff to contract with a commercial broker to help market the site. In addition, it would establish a timeline for the disposition process, terms of the disposition and scoring criteria for redevelopment proposals.
The DIA envisions issuing a notice of disposition in 2025, with dates to be determined.
In 2022, the DIA approved a $41 million incentives package for Atlanta-based developer Carter to build The Hardwick, a 22-story mixed-use project on the site. The project fizzled due to rising construction costs and difficulties in obtaining financing.
Carter, in requesting an extension on its redevelopment agreement in mid-2023 before aborting the project, cited a “frozen” capital market.
Among the proposed terms of disposition, proposals would be required to include a mix of uses and include features to stimulate activity on Bay Street and the riverfront, such as ground-floor retail/restaurant space along Bay Street and a minimum of 10,000 square feet of restaurant/bar space along the riverfront.
“The DIA desires a full-service restaurant providing a dining opportunity for boaters on the waterfront,” the resolution reads.
“The restaurant shall have the ability to serve meals to at least 100 patrons at one time. Bonus points are available to rooftop/upper story dining/bar accessible to the public.”
Qualifications for developers include experience on projects with an aggregate value of more than $50 million and a minimum of 300,000 square feet.
The resolution also states that developers will be notified that a multifamily market rate Recapture Enhanced Value Grant may be available, but not necessarily other public funding. A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development.
“The Respondent should not assume the availability of ‘Completion Grants,’ Loans, or other City funded incentives,” the resolution reads.
In recent months, Jacksonville City Council members have raised concerns about completion grants and other incentives that are paid out of the city’s general fund, which acts as its savings account. Those concerns are based on Council auditor projections of budget deficits of $44 million to $105 million through 2029.
In January 2022, Carter and five other applicants made presentations for redevelopment projects for The Ford on Bay. Two weeks later, the DIA selected Carter’s mid-century modern-inspired design.
“You look at all the comments and controversy around the (former Jacksonville) Landing site, Riverfront Plaza, you see a city that wants something unique and iconic,” then-board member Oliver Barakat said.
“I think Carter has brilliantly tapped into our history and also tapped into this newfound appreciation for mid-century architecture and on open space and hit on a lot of our hot buttons.