JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville City Council approved another major project that will transform Downtown Jacksonville.
The council voted to approve Shad Khan’s Iguana Investment Shipyards project and the changes to the money involved. The original proposal was approved well over a year ago, but this latest update recognizes that the cost of the project is going up.
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The council approved the agreement and contracts that allow Iguana Investment to start development of a Four Seasons hotel and office building near TIAA Bank Field.
“They asked to purchase the office building site and are paying the city cash for it at its appraised value. So now, there’s two separate sets of contracts: one for the hotel and one for the office building,” Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said.
The total cost of the project is over $387 million, which is an increase of $86 million. The city incentive is over $95 million, which was bumped up roughly $11 million.
“The city’s return is better than it was a year and a half ago,” Boyer said. “We donated land for the hotel, so land that was previously off the tax roll now goes on the tax roll. Part of that is also a tax rebate, a real estate tax rebate, so it’s generated by the development itself.”
DIA CEO Lori Boyer said the approval also takes $7.1 million dollars that was previously approved in city budget for bulkheads and the riverwalk along the Northbank. The bill says it aggregates funding for certain city-owned improvements as part of the overall Four Seasons hotel, office building, marina, and the riverwalk project at the former Met park site.
“It was already approved previously. It was just taking a piece of something that was maybe $25 million before, peeling out $7.1 million and saying, ‘That’s for this bulkhead, and this part of the riverwalk,’” Boyer said.
Iguana Investments sent us the following statement:
“We’re grateful to the Jacksonville City Council for their approval tonight of the revised Shipyards redevelopment agreement. These changes address key site-specific issues and account for disruptions in the global supply chain, while still providing an increased return on investment to the city. The continued collaboration between Iguana, the City of Jacksonville and the Downtown Investment Authority on this project is emblematic of our shared vision for the future of downtown Jacksonville.”
— Iguana Investments
