If offering the Shipyards property on East Bay Street for redevelopment was a good idea in 2015, expanding the offer to include the city’s riverfront property from the west boundary of the Shipyards all the way to the west property line of WJCT may be an even better idea.
The Downtown Investment Authority board of directors will consider Wednesday a resolution to do just that based on a request from the mayor’s office.
The resolution also would close negotiations authorized in 2015 with Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments Florida LLC.
Khan’s firm won the right to negotiate redevelopment of the Shipyards property when its plan was selected best of three proposals submitted.
Iguana’s proposal included up to 600 apartments and/or condominiums with a marina, a hotel, commercial office and retail space and community football fields.
The project was an estimated private investment of $428 million to $663 million.
Soon after Iguana was selected for the project, questions were raised about the city’s financial contribution to the plan, such as improvements to East Bay Street to accommodate the development, and the environmental mitigation that might be required before construction could begin.
Authority CEO Aundra Wallace said last week when there was no contract with Iguana eight months after he was authorized to negotiate an agreement, Khan’s focus shifted to the amphitheater and flex field project at EverBank Field, now under construction as Daily’s Place.
The mayor’s office said last week the results from the environmental study conducted more than a year ago have not yet been approved by the state, so no final determination of environmental issues or a plan for mitigation is available.
Assuming the board approves the resolution, a notice of disposition for city-owned riverfront property would be advertised for at least 30 days by the Procurement Department.
Responses will be evaluated by a committee comprising a DIA board member and representatives of the mayor’s office.
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