Khan, Jaguars expect Lot J development to begin early 2020

[tufsu1]

I just got this random robot text:

"First JEA, now...A BAD Lot J deal is about to pass. Contact your Councilwoman @ 9042555205 or LCumber@coj.net & tell her to scrap Lot J! bit.ly/38Hhv1z
Stop2End"

Someone is putting their money where their mouth is

got one too - likely from the Our Jax group

[jaxlongtimer]

The quote below from the owner of the closing Zodiac Bar & Grill is a precursor to the ultimate negative impact a Lot J project will have on the downtown core.  It will hurt it, not help it.  Curry is living a pipe dream and we are totally wasting a ridiculous amount of taxpayer dollars on further holding back our urban core.  Shooting ourselves in the foot.  Totally outrageous.

...Small downtown businesses like their restaurant, he said, generally have been forgotten and overlooked by city leaders over the past few years as the focus is on major development projects such as Lot J.

"The city will care more about the big apples. They care about Lot J, JEA, etc. so we [small downtown businesses] have been failed," Ewais said.

He also said big projects like Lot J will benefit some areas of the city but it shouldn't be done at the expense of downtown small businesses.

Ewais said he and his wife don't think downtown will recover soon. So, the couple is hoping to possibly reopen Zodiac or open a new eatery in a neighborhood outside of downtown but not in the suburbs....

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/dining/2021/01/06/covid-19-zodiac-bar-grill-closes-20-years-downtown-jacksonville/4137067001/

[Charles Hunter]

I can't find it on their website, but during the noon news, WJXT-4 had a clip of Mayor Curry saying that if the Council pulls the plug on Lot J, the project is dead, won't happen.  WJXT said they tried to contact the Jaguars, but did not receive a response to Curry's comment.

[thelakelander]

I find that hard to believe, unless they are hiding the fact that the project isn't a $450 million project and that the city contribution will literally build most of it. With that in mind, if the project is a viable one, cleaning up the mess of his administration won't kill it. If not giving them a buttload of cash for something that clearly isn't a $450 million project happens to kill it, so what. Kill it and move on.

[Ken_FSU]

City Council meeting tomorrow at 10 AM that should determine* whether Lot J advances to a final vote next week.

*If Hazouri doesn't derail the meeting, which I'm honestly expecting.

Per the T-U, three amendments will be brought forward:

1) An amendment by Hazouri to nix the $65 million breadbox loan entirely

2) An amendment by Hazouri and Randy DeFoor to include $150 million in clawback protections in the event that the Jags leave

3) An amendment by Ron Salem to - in lieu of a five year lease extension - guarantee the city half of all proceeds from a Lot J sale if the developer sells it before 2034 (five years after the stadium lease expires).

I think there's literally no chance that Hazouri's amendment passes, but it'll be interesting to see who bites on it, because those would likely be the no votes (Carlucci and DeFoor seem like the only locks). In the same way that Cumber's DIA amendment was meant to circumvent Carlucci's more extreme DIA amendment, I think Salem's 2034 amendment (which the Jags have agreed to) will effectively kill/supplant the DeFoor clawback amendment.

The JEA report certainly didn't help the vote, but the Trevor Lawrence excitement probably cancels out the negativity.

15-4 is still what I'm thinking in terms of support.

[Charles Hunter]

Is the Salem amendment meaningful? Surely Khan and Cordish have smart accountants that can make the "proceeds" appear to be minuscule.  After deducting "costs" and such.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Is the Salem amendment meaningful? Surely Khan and Cordish have smart accountants that can make the "proceeds" appear to be minuscule.  After deducting "costs" and such.

Proceeds means gross receipts, not net income.

[Ken_FSU]

^After seeing the actual amendment, it is in fact net sales, not proceeds.

Hazouri also has four other amendments he plans to introduce.

[Ken_FSU]

City Council meeting ongoing:

https://jaxcityc.granicus.com/player/event/1478?view_id=1&redirect=true

[thelakelander]

Hughes comes off as very disrespectful in these things. Also find it crazy that we're comparing Landing door revenue during the FL GA game with what it could be at Lot J. So a business owner made money on a weekend and didn't share it with the city. So what. This is a horrible way to make urban development decisions.

[Ken_FSU]

Hughes comes off as very disrespectful in these things.

He's even worse outside of public meetings.

[Ken_FSU]

For the first time in this entire proceedings, Zed Smith seems to be losing his cool a little after Boylan brought in Tarik Bateh from the Urban Land Institute to suggest a major restructuring of the deal.

While Bateh brought up some really good points, I'm not entirely sure why he was here and given the floor for 20 minutes when all parties have been working so hard to finalize legislation of the existing deal to either be voted up or down (obviously Hazouri approved Bateh's presentation to steer things a certain way).

This Lot J thing has dragged on for long enough.

If any one on City Council opposes the deal or wants it significantly restructured at this point, there's an easy solution: Vote No.

The deal is what it is at this point.

[Peter Griffin]

I liked Bateh's presentation. He made some salient points on why the deal should be either radically modified, or scrapped and started over. His estimate of this project actually being worth about $290mm really made me think that this budget is bloated on purpose to get the city to essentially foot the whole bill while "only paying half"

I REALLY liked Councilwoman DeFoor's question about whether or not Cordish would share the Pro Forma. "No, we are not willing to share that"... That stunned me. That's a soundbyte if ever I head one come out of a city council meeting.

[vicupstate]

His estimate of this project actually being worth about $290mm really made me think that this budget is bloated on purpose to get the city to essentially foot the whole bill while "only paying half"

WINNER, WINNER, Chicken Dinner !!

[thelakelander]

I liked Bateh's presentation. He made some salient points on why the deal should be either radically modified, or scrapped and started over. His estimate of this project actually being worth about $290mm really made me think that this budget is bloated on purpose to get the city to essentially foot the whole bill while "only paying half"

I REALLY liked Councilwoman DeFoor's question about whether or not Cordish would share the Pro Forma. "No, we are not willing to share that"... That stunned me. That's a soundbyte if ever I head one come out of a city council meeting.

I liked Bateh's presentation and it should have taken place way before now. We have a project that's close to 50% less of the cost than what's being sold publicly. You can't really get to talking breadbox loans and how much the city should pay when you don't even know what the proforma is.