The Jacksonville Jaguars have submitted a proposal for redeveloping downtown’s former shipyards property into a mixed-use residential and entertainment district, announced Wednesday During an annual “State of the Franchise” address.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan teed up the project by linking it to his team.
“As goes downtown Jacksonville, so goes the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Khan said. “I mean we are one. What’s good for downtown is good for the Jaguars.”
Renderings of the development show features like an overhead park, similar to New York’s High Line, along with a floating dock and kayak launch.
Metropolitan Park, across from the stadium, would be replaced with a upscale hotel, and green space would be concentrated to the west, near A. Philip Randolph Boulevard, said Jaguars President Mark Lamping.
Two years ago, Khan proposed redeveloping the shipyards, but the plans were thrown out due to the clean up cost.
Lamping said this proposal takes into consideration the millions of dollars it would take to clean up the area’s ground contamination for development.
“We all know that there’s some environmental issues below the surface in the shipyards area and as long as you don’t go below the surface, you don’t have to worry about what’s below,” Lamping said. “That’s the perfect place to put a park.”
Also in the proposal are mixed-use buildings and residential units.
The Jaguars’ submission, from Khan's Iguana Investments came in on the city’s deadline for shipyards proposals.
Two other proposals from Presidium Group and Wess Holdings have also been submitted.
Khan said if another plan was chosen over his he'd be OK with it as long as the shipyards were developed.
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Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
