Nearly four years in the making, a new version of The Related Group’s proposed development on the Downtown Southbank is poised to move forward after the Jacksonville City Council approved a revised incentive package for the $202.75 million project.
On a 17-0 vote, Council gave final approval to a redevelopment agreement and $58.79 million in public funding for the 25-story tower on the former River City Brewing Co. site.
The incentives, contained in Ordinance 2024-0748, comprise a $39 million completion grant and a $19.79 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant.
A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development. The grant for Related is based on 75% of the increased real and personal property taxes generated at the project site over 15 years.
Council members did not discuss the incentives in passing them but had dissected them earlier in October during committee meetings. In a Finance Committee discussion, some members noted that city commitments on completion grants for economic development projects Downtown and elsewhere were a growing concern for them amid projections by Council auditors of looming budget deficits of up to $105 million in the next four years.
Miami-based Related’s Southbank project, its first proposed in Jacksonville, surfaced in late 2020 as a $92 million, eight-story apartment community.
In June 2021, Council unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement and $18.27 million in taxpayer incentives for that version of the project.
In April 2023, Related dropped those plans in favor of a project that added a 24-story tower to the mid-rise apartment building, along with other new elements.
That proposal stalled when construction costs rang up $30 million more than Related originally calculated.
The new version of the package included changes in the Downtown Investment Authority’s methodology for evaluating the cost benefit of high-rise developments for the city. Instead of basing the city’s return on investment of incentives over 20 years, the DIA extended the calculation period to 30 years.
In a DIA board meeting, CEO Lori Boyer said the changes reflect the higher durability of tower construction and higher cost construction for high-rises as opposed to so-called podium construction comprising wood framing over a concrete base.
Related’s new project would include an additional eight-story apartment building, a nine-story parking garage, a 4,000-square-foot riverfront restaurant and a 1,000-square-foot ship store selling beverages, ice, snacks and other items to users of the nearby boat ramp.
In addition, Related would contribute a parcel of about 4,200 square feet for an expansion of the St. Johns Park space and would provide $3.98 million over 30 years for park maintenance.
The site comprises 3.02 acres and is at 835 Museum Circle between the Acosta Bridge and Friendship Fountain.
A DIA staff report calculated the city’s return on investment at $1.13 for every $1 of public funding.