JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars will share their proposal for the “Stadium of the Future” to renovate TIAA Bank Field and the surrounding area.
It will be announced at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday and is the first step toward a stadium renovation and sports district development that will shape the heart of Jacksonville, and city budgets for decades to come.
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New documents obtained by Action News Jax detail the framework and says the project could cost over $2 billion in total. The memorandum of understanding was labeled May 11 and May 24 and it says the city would do a 50/50 split of the cost and could shell out anywhere from $875 million to over $1 billion for the sports district development.
Action News Jax spoke with Matt Carlucci, Jacksonville City Council member, At-Large Group 4. He said he wished he saw the documents earlier.
“I think it’s too early to say whether that’s accurate or not. It may be accurate and if it is, I the city can find a way to fund that,” Carlucci said.
It details a timeline, saying early work could begin in February 2025 and finish in July 2028. Possible temporary game locations during renovations range anywhere from Jacksonville to London, Orlando, Gainesville and Daytona Beach as options.
The documents also say Jaguars would have the rights to several parking lots and would establish a special taxing district to include all new development outside the stadium in the sports complex.
Jaguars fans had mixed feelings about the cost.
“This is a great thing for the city it’s great for the growth,” Bryen Olive said.
“I’m concerned about other infrastructure projects as well, but Jags are such a boom to the local economy it might be worth the investment,” Walker Ragland said.
While this type of deal would also have to go through the council, Carlucci believes it’s all too premature.
“It’s way too early to speculate on numbers and that’s unfair to the new mayor,” he said. “I think we need to take a deep breath, let our new mayor get in office and she will roll out negotiations when she has her team in place to do that.”
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Mayor-Elect Donna Deegan sent us the following statement:
“We have received the initial framework that was created and proposed by the Jaguars. I have asked Mike Weinstein to look at this for me. He brings vast experience working on complex deals for the city.
“We are evaluating the framework and working with the Office of General Counsel and Council Auditor to review all prior agreements regarding the stadium and stadium-area developments.
“As I have said previously, when it comes time for negotiating, we will bring in a team that is experienced in negotiating this type of deal with the NFL. We’re not there yet. Our end goal remains the same. A deal that works for taxpayers, the Jaguars, and the NFL.”
Carlucci is in full support of her statement and said Weinstein will be a huge help in this process.
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