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Jaguars Owner Shad Khan Touts $301.2M In Private Investment For His Shipyards Proposal

This rendering illustrates a Four Seasons hotel and office building that is part of the 1st Downtown Jacksonville plan.
Jacksonville Jaguars
This rendering illustrates a Four Seasons hotel and office building that is part of the 1st Downtown Jacksonville plan.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan made a fresh pitch for his plan to redevelop the Shipyards Monday, writing, “I personally pledge that we will do everything we can to serve our community, be responsive, and make you proud.”

Through his Iguana Investments’ arm, Khan has provided a financial summary that projects the city providing $87.3 million for development and a total city of Jacksonville investment cost of $114.5 million for his Shipyards proposal.

Related: Read the 1st Jacksonville Plan Supplemental Financial Summary

In return, Khan’s supplemental financial summary to the Downtown Development Authority shows a private investment of $301.2 million for:

Five-Star Four Seasons Hotel Complex - Minimum $301.1 Million Private Capital Investment

• 176 rooms

• 25 residential condominiums

• 259 parking spaces

• 39,100 sq. ft. of amenities that will be open to the public (restaurants, bars, pool, spa, and retail)

• 10,600 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space

Class A Office Building

• 99,000 sq. ft. leasable office space

• 10,000 sq. ft. activated retail and amenity space

$176,000 Additional Developer Investment For Marina Access Drive 

Saying he would also pick up any cost overruns, Khan wrote that “the project will produce benefits that will exceed any expenditures made by the city.  That’s good news for all of us, today and deep into the future.”

He said the term sheet resulted from input from citizens and city officials. The Jaguars have been holding a series of public meetings called Community Huddles since the proposal was announced on June 3.

The remaining scheduled Community Huddles are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and end at 7 p.m., with Jaguars staff on hand to do presentations. They are:

Mandarin 

  • Tuesday, June 22, at South Mandarin Library, 12125 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32223

St. Johns 

  • Tuesday, June 22  at Bartram Trail Branch Library,  60 David Pond Blvd., Fruit Cove, FL 32259

Northside           

  • Tuesday, June 22  at Bradham and Brooks Branch Library,  1755 Edgewood Ave. W., Jacksonville, FL 32208

Westside            

  • Wednesday, June 23  at Charles Webb Wesconnett Library,  6887 103rd St., Jacksonville, FL 32210

Downtown         

  • Thursday, June 24  at  TIAA Bank Field - Upper East Club, 1 TIAA Bank Field Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32202

The supplemental financial summary focuses on development that would take part on the city-owned Shipyards land. Khan has also proposed building a new sports performance center at the sports complex, but his Monday letter did not mention that part of the project.
WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union reported earlier that the sports performance center that would be built outside the stadium has an estimated cost of $120 million and that Khan is asking the city to split that 50-50 with him.

Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.

Bill joined WJCT News in September of 2017 from The Florida Times-Union, where he served in a variety of multimedia journalism positions.