Convention Center Wars

[Tacachale]

Curious as to why razing two buildings with no historic or aesthetic appeal would be a mistake. Isn't it better to remove the asbestos filled boxes with something fresh that maximizes the riverfront.  I'll be glad to see them go.

With the City Hall building, at least, the cost to turn it into offices or apartments is going to be way less than tearing it down and building something new. Especially if the convention center is never built, which looks like a serious possibility right now. Aesthetic appeal is subjective. I'd much rather have the distinctive midcentury City Hall building than more stick-built hurricane bait made of chintzy Chinese materials like we've been getting.

[Papa33]

Lynyrd Curry will get what he wants by hook or crook.

[vicupstate]

Curious as to why razing two buildings with no historic or aesthetic appeal would be a mistake. Isn't it better to remove the asbestos filled boxes with something fresh that maximizes the riverfront.  I'll be glad to see them go.

The likelihood that it sits empty is far greater than it will be developed. As long as it is standing there is always the possibility of working with what is there. With demolition, you never get that option back. 

The City Hall annex in particular has a lot of potential for something else. Condos, Apartments, hotel, etc.  Anything new built there would probably be considerably less floors too.

[Kiva]

Damn, Lake, your proposal makes too much sense to be considered seriously.  Our Powers That Be would rather shoot for Mars (never mind the Moon), have the rocket explode on launch, and complain they don't have enough financial incentives (that is, tax dollars).

True!

[KenFSU]

The likelihood that it sits empty is far greater than it will be developed.

Disagree.

Convention center or no convention center, keep an eye on both that site and the surrounding area in the coming months.

[thelakelander]

The likelihood is that they'll sit empty for at least a decade if the market blows up in the next year or two. If developed, the product will be a lot less density on the site than what's there today.

[KenFSU]

If developed, the product will be a lot less density on the site than what's there today.

I"m sure you're right, but at this point, the damage is done.

Ceilings, floors, utilities, etc. are being yanked out with full demolition coming in 90 days.

Annex in particular could have made a great retrofit, but that ship has sailed.

If we go with a convention center at the sports complex, god help us, I hope we RFP the Annex and Courthouse properties separately to hopefully create a little more density.

There's interest in the area from multiple parties.

[thelakelander]

^Yeah, the damage has been done but I still believe it's very likely we end up looking at a vacant lot or two for a while. The market will control this site's outcome moreso than COJ's wheeling and dealing will.

[Elwood]

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/jacksonville/city-prepares-to-implode-16-story-downtown-tower-in-january

[thelakelander]

The Jacobs proposal was ranked the highest.

[KenFSU]

Brian Hughes, Curry's Chief of Staff, announced as new interim CEO of the DIA.

[Kiva]

The Jacobs proposal was ranked the highest.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/09/19/dia-awards-jacobs-engineering-highest-score-for.html

[heights unknown]

Alrighty then. Make a damn choice and let's get this thing moving.

[ralpho37]

"Process Forward in Limbo"

Official tagline of Downtown Jacksonville!

[KenFSU]

^One of the most important intentions of the RFP, if not the most important, was to test the waters and see what type of private investment, if any, that companies were willing to make in a Jacksonville convention center. As the DIA stated bluntly yesterday, the RFP plainly demonstrated that no one was going to come in and build a convention center for us.

Most of us would definitely agree that Jacksonville needs a new convention center, but the real question is, do we need it $1.4 billion bad? This is why the DIA is referring to the convention center as a generational decision.

Opportunity cost is enormous when you think of what else we could do with that money.

This is one decision we definitely don't need to rush into.

And to the point Ennis has made a few times, it's a situation where we need much more detailed information from the Jags about what they are proposing at the Shipyards.

Taking cost off the table, the Courthouse site makes a lot more sense from a downtown redevelopment perspective. But if the Jags agree to a 50/50 split on their $450 million proposal like they have in the past with other projects, versus the city fully funding and paying 30-year interest on a $780 million facility themselves, we're potentially looking at an $800 million+ cost savings by building at the Shipyards.

That money could do a ton of good supporting other downtown projects as well.

The smart play from the city would be to fully vet Iguana's proposal, figure out what the development agreement for Lot J might look like, put out a separate RFP for the Courthouse and Annex properties to see what type of mixed-use interest might exist, conduct enough environmental research to figure out exactly how much remediation of the proposed Shipyards site would cost, confirm if and when the Hart Bridge ramps can come down safely, and then make a fully informed decision.