1st DownTown Jacksonville Renderings

[thelakelander]

Renderings of proposed plans for a Four Seasons Hotel and Football Performance Center at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field.

Full article and additional renderings: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/1st-downtown-jacksonville-renderings/

[Charles Hunter]

"404 Error"

[thelakelander]

Fixed!

[Alex Sifakis]

For the Shipyards - Love this concept and this plan. A Four Seasons definitely changes the playing field downtown. Very fired up the Jags are going about this the right way, though the DIA.

For the football facility - seems like a no-brainer.  Currently COJ is obligated to pay for all facilities, and to maintain them, but in this scenario we get a world class facility (ideally to attract and develop better players!) and Shad is going to pay for half, AND agree to cover all maintenance and operational costs going forward.

Home runs all around.

[Ken_FSU]

Looks like a MUCH better incentives package as well.

With the largest chunk coming from a REV grant, and a smaller completion grant, rather than the upfront cash nonsense of Lot J.

I don't think downtown revitalization equates to building a playground for ultra-rich locals, travelers, and athletes, but cost looks reasonable, return looks reasonable (particularly in anchoring the Jags here and providing something additive rather than competitive), and project looks realistic.

I dig it.

[Kerry]

I feel the need to come out of retirement (briefly) to comment on this.

The wife and I relocated part-time and this is probably just the kind of proposal that will seal the deal to relocate full-time.  I'm not the least bit surprised the people in this group love this plan.  Sometimes you get what you deserve, and Jax 100% deserves this.

I'll go back into retirement with this closing thought.

If the Jags are going to abandon the Flex Field the City paid for on their behalf, then the Jags should return their portion of Daily's Place to the City and all current concession, operation, and revenue contracts voided and a penalty assesed for lost property tax revenue.

[Captain Zissou]

I still don't know if Jax is ready for the 4 Seasons, but the remainder of the plan looks doable. I do wonder about the new facilities coming so quickly after the flex field at Daily's.  Was that facility not well done or did it not meet the needs it was designed to?   

[Ken_FSU]

^Good to see you, Kerry. Was worried when you disappeared during the pandemic. Glad you guys are doing well.

I will agree that this is probably my least favorite part of the proposal, the abandonment of the Flex Field.

I think it's a unique, beautiful space, particularly when the sliding doors are fully open (which I've maybe seen twice in my life). We could do some really unique things there, and just having it wide open to the street and the public with the Jags practice field there would make it fun, covered compliment to Met Park.

All that said, if I'm the city, I'm not letting the Jags just wipe their hands of the Flex Field. Ideally, they'd oversee activity there, or at least kick in the funds necessary for the Parks department to program and staff the space.

[vicupstate]

Currently COJ is obligated to pay for all facilities, and to maintain them, but in this scenario we get a world class facility (ideally to attract and develop better players!) and Shad is going to pay for half, AND agree to cover all maintenance and operational costs going forward.

I realize the city is required to maintain the stadium, but are they required to also build and maintain this or any future facilities that are considered (by the Jags) a football facility?

Also, are the Jags assuming maintenance and operational costs of THIS new facility only or the existing stadium as well?   

[vicupstate]

The wife and I relocated part-time and this is probably just the kind of proposal that will seal the deal to relocate full-time.

Was wondering  where you went. Where did you end up relocating to?  Hope you are pleased with your decision.

[vicupstate]

All that said, if I'm the city, I'm not letting the Jags just wipe their hands of the Flex Field. Ideally, they'd oversee activity there, or at least kick in the funds necessary for the Parks department to program and staff the space.

Jax has a grossly underfunded Parks department that is doing good to keep the grass cut in half it's parks.  They will definitely need additional dedicated funds to do anything with this space.

[Jagsdrew]

I really love the vision here on this iteration of the rendering. Still ALOT of work and details that still need to be hashed out. I think this will be the path forward.

But I wanted to commend those in our public offices that made the deciding vote to reject the plans prior because of financial obligations that would burden the city or how the deal was laid out or any other of the myriad of reasons.  You see how excited and positive the first few comments are on here (and many more on social media).  This is what it's about and why we have the DDRB, DIA, Council to review these types of projects.

It doesn't get to this point without these integral roles who can scrutinize, debate, and ultimate decide on this type of stuff. Again, long road ahead but I don't think it will be as turbulent as the last few times.

The Flex Field component is something that I have a lot of questions on and I'll save that for a different time but I think the land swap for Met Park impacted this decision.

[fsu813]

Much, much more palatable project than Lot J. Good to see.

[Steve]

All that said, if I'm the city, I'm not letting the Jags just wipe their hands of the Flex Field. Ideally, they'd oversee activity there, or at least kick in the funds necessary for the Parks department to program and staff the space.

Jax has a grossly underfunded Parks department that is doing good to keep the grass cut in half it's parks.  They will definitely need additional dedicated funds to do anything with this space.

Unquestionably, this seems like a night and day better proposal than the Lot J "thing". With that said, it isn't perfect and this is high on the list of things I'm having a hard time with. As I understand it, the project for the Club Renovations, Daily's Place, and Flex Field was $90M, with COJ paying $45M. Of the $90M, how much was the Flex Field? The space strikes me as a bit of an albatross - what are we realistically going to do with this building?

I LOVE that the Jags are responsible for the maintenance of the new Practice Facility. That doesn't guarantee that they won't ask COJ for money, but it's definitely an improvement.

The other question I have about the hotel: The agreement technically lists, "Five Star Hotel", which means it may not be a Four Seasons. However, the list of 5-Stars is quite large, with names like Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Park Hyatt, and Waldorf-Astoria. But, they have to agree to put their flag on the building. What if they build the thing and they don't agree? Obviously some hotel brand would agree and if it was a flag like Westin, Intercontinental, etc. then it's certainly nice for downtown. But...it's not a 5 Star Hotel. Does that matter? I think it does a little.

I want to learn more, but it seems like the Jags definitely listened. Hats off to the City Council Members that said "no" to Lot J. I think everyone benefitted from that actually.

[blizz01]

Doesn't Shad already own a Four Seasons?