City unveils Jaguars stadium plan

[CityLife]

Tip of the ball cap to whoever the lobbyist, lawyer, or strategist is that formulated the approach to have the entire focus of the deal become about the CBA, not the actual stadium renovation itself.

[fsu813]

Would love to see this all voted on together, but the park's piece is super encouraging when you think about it logically. In exchange for the city committing $56 million to finish riverfront parks that we were already going to finish regardless

I wouldn't assume COJ would dedicate that amount to finishing the parks in the future. Much like the skyway, Laura Street Trio, riverwalk, etc - big, expensive projects often wither on the vine, from lack of urgency/competing priorities. Striking when the iron is hot is 110% key to finishing the parks as intended (more or less). Budget tightening is on the horizon...

*thank goodness Groundwork Jax is leading the Emerald Trail and creek restorations

[Ken_FSU]

Even with the non-park portions of the CBA culled from the stadium deal, Council Members Pittman, Gaffney, Carrico and Freeman still abstained from yesterday's vote, and may end up abstaining from the vote next week. Kind of defeats the purpose of separating it out so said Council members could vote on the overall package without conflict of interest.

Also, can Rory Diamond be bothered to go to more than one meeting every six months?
Absent again yesterday.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2024/jun/21/jaguars-stadium-of-the-future-agreement-clears-last-meeting-en-route-to-final-council-consideration/

[marcuscnelson]

And through it flies.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/politics/government/2024/06/25/jacksonville-city-council-passes-everbank-stadium-renovation-deal-with-jaguars-khan-deegan-cba/74195058007/

14-1, Mike Gay opposed, Carrico and Freeman abstaining, Diamond & Pittman not present. Next stop is the NFL owners' meeting in October.

Now to see if they'll actually work to pass the remaining $96 million of the Community Benefits Agreement.

[jaxoNOLE]

This process felt...competent. Even the CBA debate, with the Jags remaining committed to their $100M and an equivalent 3-to-1 match above that, seemed even-tempered and worlds apart from the Lot J debacle.

It's nice.

[Jax_Developer]

I feel the complete opposite... There was almost zero accurate reporting on this deal & there has been really almost zero dialogue on the actual deal beyond the CBA. Still yet to see much of a counter response to the deal, other than a handful of reporters that are starting to ask questions. Not the biggest fan of Diamond, but everyone made him look like the bad guy for being the only vocal opponent to 'some' of the agreement.

Mike Gay's response is way too accurate. About 4 weeks to make sure the agreement is impartial? No way. Still very little clarity on several extremely important items. We went away from a $350M + 'other stuff' outlay for a normal 50/50 stadium split, to now more than $700M taxpayer commitment with a 30-year operational commitment. Be happy the Jags are staying (& I am) but we didn't get a deal by any real measure.

https://www.facebook.com/Elect.Mike.Gay/

I also would have to applaud 'some' special interest group... who figured out how to focus the entire deal on the CBA.

[Joey Mackey]

Fantastic result, legacy event for the City. Kudos to all those involved, especially the "faceless" auditors, lawyers, and staff members who did most of the heavy lifting. Extremely proud of my City today.

[Jankelope]

Very excited about this. The Stadium of course, but the extension of the NFL in Jacksonville for 30 more years is very sweet for me to see as the father of 2 young boys who get to grow up as fans.

Separate from this, I love putting $50+ million more into parks. I am still skeptical it will be enough, however. We cannot have value engineered parks on our riverfront. These need to be world class community amenities. Don't cut the coolest parts of parks designs. I can see Shipyards West park easily exceeding $50 million on it's own.

Look at the St. Pete Pier. It cost $92 million and opened in 2020. So dramatically reduced construction cost during it's construction. It is 26 acres vs 10 acres for Shipyards west, though. Hopefully it's enough.

[fsu813]

I feel the complete opposite... There was almost zero accurate reporting on this deal & there has been really almost zero dialogue on the actual deal beyond the CBA. Still yet to see much of a counter response to the deal, other than a handful of reporters that are starting to ask questions. Not the biggest fan of Diamond, but everyone made him look like the bad guy for being the only vocal opponent to 'some' of the agreement.

Mike Gay's response is way too accurate. About 4 weeks to make sure the agreement is impartial? No way. Still very little clarity on several extremely important items. We went away from a $350M + 'other stuff' outlay for a normal 50/50 stadium split, to now more than $700M taxpayer commitment with a 30-year operational commitment. Be happy the Jags are staying (& I am) but we didn't get a deal by any real measure.

https://www.facebook.com/Elect.Mike.Gay/

I also would have to applaud 'some' special interest group... who figured out how to focus the entire deal on the CBA.

A stadium deal was inevitable. And because of that, COJ had liitle negotiating leverage. Thus, from that perspective,the final result was indeed a good deal. It could have been worse and still pass city council. Thankfully, we have a better result.

[marcuscnelson]

Looks like a comparison has finally emerged.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/charlotte-leaders-consider-650m-toward-bank-america-stadium-renovations/3YV645GZXVHHLBRDLDHD5N7KBM/

Charlotte is now considering $650 million in renovations to Bank of America Stadium, to which the owners of the Carolina Panthers would add $150 million and then take on overruns and maintenance costs with a 20-year lease extension. It is unclear if there is a community benefits agreement. Their timeline is much faster for consideration, with a City Council vote expected on June 24th.

Charlotte passed their stadium deal the day before Jacksonville and I feel relieved that we got such a better deal in comparison. We didn't get everything that might have been liked but Shad Khan is at least putting real money in unlike David Tepper, with a longer lease term and better relocation protection. Things could have been much worse.

Hopefully this means Jax can now turn to other priorities (like again, passing the rest of the CBA). Housing, transit, healthcare, education, libraries, infrastructure like sewers, the jail, whatever is going to be done with the Prime Osborn.

[Jax_Developer]

When the final document drops, I encourage everyone here to go read it. You might think twice about this being any kind of deal given the terms there... this is probably one of the most lop-sided real estate transfers I have ever witnessed. Quite frankly, there isn't a comparison to this deal in the entire NFL. Yes, I read all 319 pages before it was amended & taken down to be edited.

Here are some more highlights to Gay's list:

- $25M credit becomes a city payable if the Jags decide not to exercise the option
- $25M credit can actually be used for more land than just the adjacent Shipyard parcel & that credit can at the full discretion of the Jags be used towards construction costs
- Jags essentially have a blanket easement for over 25+ acres of parking for 30 years
- City, on multiple expenses, increases their outlay with CPI, while the Jags don't in any part of the agreement

We have just "sold" more than 25 acres of land, on top of paying $700M+ to the Jags for the stadium/parks. And this is a deal?? Really hard to see it as such. We have a very loud echo chamber locally. 

[marcuscnelson]

^Jax_Developer, what about Charlotte's deal?

[BridgeTroll]

Congrats to Jacksonville... we all know stadium "deals" are in the eye of the beholder...but if you want an NFL franchise this is the price.  Every NFL city goes through these painful negotiations eventually...

[CityLife]

Looks like a comparison has finally emerged.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/charlotte-leaders-consider-650m-toward-bank-america-stadium-renovations/3YV645GZXVHHLBRDLDHD5N7KBM/

Charlotte is now considering $650 million in renovations to Bank of America Stadium, to which the owners of the Carolina Panthers would add $150 million and then take on overruns and maintenance costs with a 20-year lease extension. It is unclear if there is a community benefits agreement. Their timeline is much faster for consideration, with a City Council vote expected on June 24th.

Charlotte passed their stadium deal the day before Jacksonville and I feel relieved that we got such a better deal in comparison. We didn't get everything that might have been liked but Shad Khan is at least putting real money in unlike David Tepper, with a longer lease term and better relocation protection. Things could have been much worse.

Hopefully this means Jax can now turn to other priorities (like again, passing the rest of the CBA). Housing, transit, healthcare, education, libraries, infrastructure like sewers, the jail, whatever is going to be done with the Prime Osborn.

Haven't really done much of a deep dive into either deal, but I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison.

-Charlotte is spending $650 million, with the Panthers spending $150 million on construction. The Panthers are on the hook for cost overruns and maintenance over the next 20 years, which is estimated at $421 million.

-Tepper also owns and brought MLS expansion team Charlotte FC to the city. They play 17 home games and average 36k per game, so they bring in additional "convention center funding", which Charlotte charges on every hotel room and bar tab/restaurant bill in the city. These are the funds Charlotte is using to pay for the improvements with. 

-Tepper has spent $117 million in improvements to the stadium since 2018 and $381 million on MLS expansion for Charlotte FC, plus a health performance park, Charlotte FC's HQ and practice facility.

-A component of their construction project is creating a "park-like atmosphere outside the stadium with big LED screens that can be used for watch parties.

[Tacachale]

This is a great deal for the city and I'm proud to have gotten to work on the process that got us here. It's one of the best deals ever struck with a major league team for a city of our size, and the community benefits agreement is already the biggest ever agreed to by an NFL team. It's fantastic that we've gotten the Downtown parks funding now -- now we just need to get the rest of the CBA done and get the NFL to approve in the fall.