Khan interested in developing shipyards

[edjax]

This sounds a bit worrying. There's no mention of how much Khan will pay for the property, but lots of talk for how much we're expected to pay to clean up the site.

I hope the mayor isn't planning to just give millions of dollars worth of property to Khan, or worse, pay him to take it.

I don't know if your worst case scenario is even that bad, that being if they gave it away to Khan. Really is that property an asset or a liability as it sits. It's been vacant/closed for what...25 years? It's contaminated. I think it's probably safe to say that the city will never do anything with it on it's own. The benefits to downtown and the city at large of what could be put there by Khan "could" certainly be tremendous. Property appraiser says it's worth 11mm (no way) last purchased 10 years (in the boom) for 7.5mm. Needs 1-3mm worth of remediation. So whats the true value? A couple million?? I don't know, just asking.

Does anyone at all, even those that see Shad Khan as a savior, "want" to give a billionaire a couple million dollars of property for free? Of course not. But if you did, I have all the confidence he would do something grand with it that would benefit the city. And, it's been shuttered for 25 years. Do you think there is a buyer with the ability to actually do something with it out there on the horizon anywhere in the next 10-15 years?  I don't.

I'd be surprised if it was given to him as his own property for scott free to do with as he pleases with no City input, but even so would that be that horrible?

Agree whole heartedly with you.  This vacant property to me is a huge embarrassment  and symbol of the ineptness of our city and its leaders for the past 15 years. It is time to move on and you are right that doubtful if anyone else would step forward in the next 10 years. Don't have to give it away, but certainly giving him a deal on it would get it back to being productive.  What other city 10 years after hosting one of the largest events such as the Super Bowl can still boast of acres and acres of vacant riverfront property on both sides of the river!!!!  Thankfully we are moving forward on one side, now lets quit ourmhandwringing and move on the other side!  Now is the time.  Well, 10 years ago was but we are on Jax time.

[Bill Hoff]

You guys are all going to be shocked that it's Seaglass Tower.

[Tacachale]

Giving away valuable property would be a bad mistake. Paying a billionaire to take away our property would be an tragedy of colossal proportions. Meaning, par for the course for Alvin Brown.

[GatorShane]

OMG!! If we wait for some developer to come along, buy the property and then spend hundreds of millions of their own money to develop it, that property will never get developed(IMO). In a perfect world that's what would be the best scenario but that's not how this is going to go down. Kahn just said on the CBS 47 news that he will release the plans within 30 days and that the project will be world class. A project that he will fully fund(with the exception of the clean up). I for one cant wait to see what he has in plans for this site. Imagine Bay St from the sports complex to DT in 5 years with the Aquarium, Naval Ship Museum and the Shipyards! Super excited!!

[ProjectMaximus]

But the city didnt approve small projects (like Intuition) on the Shipyards property because they wanted to hold out for something bigger, presumably to get more bang for the buck. Why wait all this time just to then give it to someone for free?

Obviously many of us think it was a mistake not to let smaller projects use the land and get the ball rolling, but putting that behind us let's make sure we do the right thing for the city. That means getting as much value out of the transaction (in tax and possible sale) as well as making sure the waterfront uses benefit the citizens as much as they can.

[jcjohnpaint]

Given the state of our current leadership, the land is worth nothing sitting as a dirt pile.  (excluding Lori Boyer:)  At this time, this city's DT is a bad investment for developers.  If I was a real estate tycoon, Jacksonville (at least in-town) Jax would be the last of my priorities.  I mean Austin has been working on it's image for 30 years.  We are not even on year 1 yet.   I cannot see our perception changing unless we can get important projects like the Trio moving/ and willing to invest in such projects.  The city does not seem like they are interested in supporting such endeavors.  If we cannot get connectivity, then this project means nothing as a pile of dirt or an entertainment venue. 

Give him the land and lets move on. 

[jcjohnpaint]

Well unless we never thought our night in shining armor was going to be a slick business man.   

[finehoe]

Maybe I missed it, but will the development be more than a "covered practice facility"?  While I suppose that's better than empty land, I don't see how it adds much in the way of urban vibrancy to the area.

[tufsu1]

This sounds a bit worrying. There's no mention of how much Khan will pay for the property, but lots of talk for how much we're expected to pay to clean up the site.

I hope the mayor isn't planning to just give millions of dollars worth of property to Khan, or worse, pay him to take it.

that was the original request

[Charles Hunter]

Since the shipyard company doesn't exist anymore, and the City owns the property - it is the City's responsibility to clean up the site.

[edjax]

Giving away valuable property would be a bad mistake. Paying a billionaire to take away our property would be an tragedy of colossal proportions. Meaning, par for the course for Alvin Brown.

Come on now. Not all Brown and the Shipyards debacle. Who oversaw the TriLegacy debacle?

[KenFSU]

It's city property, and if we wait for someone to come around who's willing to pay for remediating our toxic dump, the Shipyards will remain vacant for another 25 years. And, even though I normally wouldn't say this, if Khan is willing to develop the property, let him have it for free. Hell, pay him within reason to develop it, if that's what it takes.

For a variety of reasons, including:

1) We keep hearing how valuable this polluted waterfront property is, yet no one else has expressed interest in developing it, aside from the pie-in-the-sky Sea Glass Tower group who quietly backed away from the project last year. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

2) Shad Khan and Mark Lamping have proved beyond a doubt with the stadium renovations that they have the ability to quickly turn the pedestrian into something absolutely world class. In one year, Khan transformed Everbank Field from an aging NFL stadium into one of the great places in the world to watch a sporting event. Fans voted it best game-day experience in the league. Bloomberg gushed about it. CNN and the New York Times gushed about it. Can you imagine what they would be able to do with a blank canvas?

3) There isn't exactly a waiting list of the world's richest men knocking down the door to invest in Jacksonville. Squabbling over whatever few million dollars the Shipyards property might be worth while what could up being a half billion dollar investment hangs in the balance is penny wise and pound foolish. Such short-sightedness almost cost Jacksonville our NFL expansion team in the early 90s before Delaney stepped in and mediated a deal between Touchdown Jacksonville and the city. If Khan is serious about privately funding most of the development, for the love of God step aside and do everything you can within reason to make it happen. You don't see Detroit snubbing their nose at Dan Gilbert's money, do you?

4) Who do you trust to do the property justice? Seriously, think about it. On one side, you have a businessman so savvy that he closes down bakeries and cuts funding to a startup incubator when he senses incompetence or a lack of ROI, backed up by Mark Lamping, who oversaw the $1 billion construction of Metlife Stadium. On the other side, you have a city government that can't even fix a pothole. How'd the courthouse work out? Or that parking garage for the Landing? Compare that to Everbank Field renovations. With Khan overseeing the project, you'll get twice the bang for half the bucks in a tenth the time as if the city ever got around to developing the property themselves. Even if the city pays Khan to take the Shipyards, the material cost of doing something is still less than the opportunity cost of doing nothing.

5) The Jaguars are arguably Jacksonville's single biggest economic asset. For better or worse, without the NFL, Jacksonville is just another mid-sized city. The Jaguars drive jobs, drive tourism, bring new businesses to town. Without the NFL, the Florida-Georgia game would have been gone years ago, as we never would have been able to justify investing the money to keep our stadium competitive. The Jaguars lease at Everbank Field is going to sneak up on us quicker than we realize, and when that day comes, it would certainly be a lot harder for Shad Khan to pack up the Jaguars and move them elsewhere if he has a strong foothold in this community.

6) From my understanding of some of the reports coming out today, the Shipyards property will, in some small part, tie-in with the Jaguars ongoing partnership with London. If the development of the Shipyards increases tourism from and continued partnership with London, that's a big win for the city.

7) A world-class development at the Shipyards will yield priceless positive externalities for adjacent properties. Berkman II. The USS Adams. Healthy Town. Intuition. The Jacksonville Suns. The Jaguars. The Armada. The Sharks. Metropolitan Park. The Riverwalk. You can't underestimate how much stronger the attraction to that area of downtown will be if there are more options pre-and-post game.

I know others might disagree, but I truly feel that Shad Khan has bent over backwards to demonstrate good will to Jacksonville. I really can't comprehend how there are still so many doubters. I don't think people understand how lucky we are and how important it is to not mess this relationship up, and how patient he has been every time he's been raked through the coals by locals for making sound business decisions.

By a stroke of luck (Shad Khan losing his bid to buy the Rams from Stan Kroenke at the last minute in 2010), we had one of the wealthiest men in the world -- a guy who makes Donald Trump look poor in comparison -- fall into our lap. He could pay out the remaining years on the lease and any subsequent penalties and legal fees and move the team elsewhere without breaking a sweat, but he embraces Jacksonville. He spent more money on the fan experience in two years than Wayne Weaver had in the past decade, and forged a sister-city relationship with London, which Forbes and Bloomberg just named the most financially influential city in the world.

This is a once a century opportunity that we're staring at.

Within reason, I think we need to do everything we possibly can to embrace the guy, help him help Jacksonville, and just hang on and enjoy the ride.

Can't wait to see the plans within 30 days, and I pray that we don't let short-sightedness keep this project from happening before the economy takes its next turn for the worse.

[iMarvin]

^Agree 100%.

I hope there a couple mid-rises in the plan; 15-30 story towers.

[Tacachale]

The Shipyards is worth $30 million, and that number will increase with the improving economy. When our city is at a point that we can't maintain cut our grass, fix our potholes, or keep an adequate number of police officers, are we really prepared to give a billionaire another $30 million gift? Or pay him to take it?

Look, I like Khan, he's been great for the Jags and for the city. But the city and the Mayor need to show some negotiation ability. They can't just keep writing Khan checks with taxpayer money.

[Marle Brando]

I can't believe people in this city are still bent out of shape about Khan and the shipyards site. KenFSU you make very valid points above and I agree whole heartedly that if it takes gifting Khan the property then that's the best move the city could make. I don't know if people understand or overlook the fact that the site will be PRIVATELY FUNDED! FULLY PRIVATELY FUNDED. The city won't have to contribute a DIME of your taxpayer dollars and will reap the tax, financial, and image lifting benefits of such a world class development.  I mean when was the last time a billionaire rolled in town and offered to throw our city on his/her shoulders, offering to change the perception of the town by developing a toxic waste of space while asking for ZERO dollars in incentives. I mean we cant even get a Jimmy Johns subs to open up shop downtown without asking for dollars which could hv been dispersed to local upstart businesses. Sure the city has to pay for Cleanup but guess what..the city owns it currently and are responsible for it. What some of you believe we have to gain by sitting on the property and begging someone to come in and save us I don't know. There's definitely more to lose if we don't jump on this train while it's here. Yapping about potholes, libraries, police funding etc. shouldn't even be brought up in this discussion because the money from the sale of the shipyards wouldnt help a city hand- cuffed by its own self imposed ridiculously low tax rates! People complain about wanting nicer things but don't want to pay for it. This is worth the price of paying. Give the man the land and let the Cowford residents continue to sulk about scoreboards while the rest of us Jacksonvillians bask in the glory of a reenergized downtown.