Land swap - best deal on the table - Or not....

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Even Ron Salem?  Good job melting down the opposition.  While I had other thoughts, congrats are in order for getting something passed by such a margin in front of a partisan City Council. 

Will be interesting to see next steps from Gateway.  If they ask for too much in incentives or fail to follow through, I hope the City revisits the position of those questioning building a high rise there in another round.  The excuse of getting something done would no longer hold water, I would think, at that point.

[Steve]

The logical decision. Well done all involved.

Hopefully Gateway and DIA can move quickly on a development agreement. Don't want to see the east side of that plot sit vacant for long.

They mentioned a high end hotel interested. I hope the allure of a nice brand would help the incentives come through.

[thelakelander]

∎ And, finally, our own Central Park.

Every great parks system has that one iconic park, the communal outdoor meeting space. A park that mixes nature, recreation, relaxation, entertainment, food. A place that, by being a great urban park, is an engine of the economy and identity.

Many of these are massive parks. New York's Central Park is more than 800 acres. Chicago's Grant Park is more than 300 acres. St. Louis' Forest Park is about 1,300 acres.

When I read this earlier, I thought these were bad examples. Springfield Park or basically the mile of historic parks lining Hogans Creek between Downtown and Springfield would be a better comparable. Hopefully, with the Emerald Trail project, this space can be placed back on its original pedestal.

Curious, how many acres is Springfield Park?

I also don't think that Downtown wraps around it like Central Park or some parks in other cities.  But, agree, it is better than nothing even if not what some of us think of as a focal point for downtown given its "edge of town" location.  Will be interesting to see if the Emerald Trail makes it more relevant.

40 Acres or so. Its basically just like the Boston Commons and historically was our "central park" and once even included our zoo.

[jcjohnpaint]

Well done!

[Steve]

∎ And, finally, our own Central Park.

Every great parks system has that one iconic park, the communal outdoor meeting space. A park that mixes nature, recreation, relaxation, entertainment, food. A place that, by being a great urban park, is an engine of the economy and identity.

Many of these are massive parks. New York's Central Park is more than 800 acres. Chicago's Grant Park is more than 300 acres. St. Louis' Forest Park is about 1,300 acres.

When I read this earlier, I thought these were bad examples. Springfield Park or basically the mile of historic parks lining Hogans Creek between Downtown and Springfield would be a better comparable. Hopefully, with the Emerald Trail project, this space can be placed back on its original pedestal.

Curious, how many acres is Springfield Park?

I also don't think that Downtown wraps around it like Central Park or some parks in other cities.  But, agree, it is better than nothing even if not what some of us think of as a focal point for downtown given its "edge of town" location.  Will be interesting to see if the Emerald Trail makes it more relevant.

40 Acres or so. Its basically just like the Boston Commons and historically was our "central park" and once even included our zoo.

A little Off Topic, but if Deegan is re-elected, a massive revitalization of Springfield/Klutho park would be an amazing legacy project.

Now that would likely require a cleaned up Hogan's Creek which will likely require federal $$$, but that would be a stunning park.

[fsu813]

Springfield Park is east of Main Street, basically two parks divided by Hubbard Street.

Klutho Park is the string of parks west of Main Street that curves from 1st to 8th.

I believe Lake is including all these spaces in the 40 acre number.

Groundwork Jacksonville is approaching 60% design on the Hogans Creek renovation, which will drastically impact these parks.

[Joey Mackey]

Great news! Well done to all those involved. I feel like this is second only to the Jags Stadium in terms of importance for the Mayor and City Council.

Now, I'm going to speculate a little bit for a second, so excuse me, but absolute masterclass whoever ordered that UNF poll last week. Mayor polling at above 60 percent and City Council polling at below 50 percent. The opposition saw the writing on the wall and their self-interested, personal ambition, partisan bullshit was going to be on full display if they voted against this no brainer of a deal.

[heights unknown]

After a couple of amendments, City Council passed the land swap 16-1, Rory Diamond voting no. Ju'Coby Pittman out on excused absence.

For me, great news; YAY!!!

[jaxlongtimer]

Will be interesting to see next steps from Gateway.  If they ask for too much in incentives or fail to follow through, I hope the City revisits the position of those questioning building a high rise there in another round.  The excuse of getting something done would no longer hold water, I would think, at that point.

This clause would be interesting if ever exercised...

Among the terms of the swap, if Gateway Jax can't come to an incentives agreement on the Riverfront Plaza project, or otherwise backs out, the city has the option to buy back the property at a discount.

Under Council member Will Lahnen's amendment the buyback price for the Riverfront Plaza is set at $6.25 million.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/jun/10/jacksonville-city-council-opts-for-swap-for-property-for-uf-graduate-campus/

[Charles Hunter]

After a couple of amendments, City Council passed the land swap 16-1, Rory Diamond voting no. Ju'Coby Pittman out on excused absence.

That's 18, where's the 19th member, and who is it?

[Tacachale]

I know I am poking the bear here  and respect the opposing heartfelt points of view.

I hope everyone feels the same in reverse.

Where I am coming from is this:  This property, as a public space, is truly unique.  It is riverfront, located in heart of the north core, is well connected with the riverwalk/Emerald Trail and walkability down Laura Street and is strategically located to brand, identify and glorify the downtown skyline.

No hotel is going to do the same.  Hotels can go anywhere downtown, they don't need to be on the most valuable and unique piece of property on our riverfront. We talk about all the empty blocks and surface parking lots downtown.  These should be prime for hotel development.  Why cram one in here that will also detract from the most iconic building on our skyline that instantly says "Jacksonville?"

I absolutely feel the same in reverse! Frankly it's awesome to have people passionate about a project or space, even if we don't agree on some things. Especially when it's respectful and in good faith. I don't always have that pleasure at work but fortunately out in the real world, it's more common than not! To me, this one's a case where different people want different specifics, but everyone wants a good park in this prominent spot. When there's different opinions, you have to make decisions based on the expertise and best information you have, and that's what we did here. I stand by this decision and am very proud of the work everyone put in to get here.

^ Even Ron Salem?  Good job melting down the opposition.  While I had other thoughts, congrats are in order for getting something passed by such a margin in front of a partisan City Council. 

Will be interesting to see next steps from Gateway.  If they ask for too much in incentives or fail to follow through, I hope the City revisits the position of those questioning building a high rise there in another round.  The excuse of getting something done would no longer hold water, I would think, at that point.

Ron Salem submitted an amendment that, long story short, allowed him and a few others to get comfortable with the land swap. I don't think it was well advised on most of its merits but am glad it helped get us to a consensus.

The incentives package will be pretty much what you've seen already. It will be a $20 million ask, paid for from the TIF rather than general fund, and the hotel will have a surcharge that goes back to maintain the park. One good thing the Salem amendment did was reduce the time Gateway has to get it through Council (to 12 months instead of 15). Gateway is confident they can do that.

[Tacachale]

After a couple of amendments, City Council passed the land swap 16-1, Rory Diamond voting no. Ju'Coby Pittman out on excused absence.

That's 18, where's the 19th member, and who is it?

Typo. It was 17-1.

[thelakelander]

Springfield Park is east of Main Street, basically two parks divided by Hubbard Street.

Klutho Park is the string of parks west of Main Street that curves from 1st to 8th.

I believe Lake is including all these spaces in the 40 acre number.

Groundwork Jacksonville is approaching 60% design on the Hogans Creek renovation, which will drastically impact these parks.

Yes, historically these were one cohesive space called Springfield Park. Over the course of the 20th century, various parts of this green space have been renamed to honor various individuals, groups and places.

[CityLife]

To play devil's advocate regarding urban parks. Most great urban parks in the US are not on any waterbody, including in cities where there is a lot of water. Chicago is probably the outlier with Grant Park and Lincoln Park, but even in those parks most of the focal points are not near the lake.

A lot of the parks below would be in the top 10 best urban parks in the USA and are all largely landlocked.

-Central Park and Prospect Park in NYC
-Boston Common
-Griffith Park in LA
-Golden Gate Park-Funny enough it has ocean frontage, but that is one of the least active parts of the park
-Balboa Park in San Diego
-Forsyth Park in Savannah
-Discovery Green in Houston
-Patterson Park in Baltimore
-Audobon Park in New Orleans-is mostly cutoff from the river by a railroad track
-Forest Park in St. Louis
-Centennial Park in Nashville

Springfield's chain of parks could easily be the City's great urban park, but the City unfortunately either gave away adjacent land or didn't ever acquire enough to create a truly great park. There is barely enough width to do anything in it. Ideally it would have room for a couple baseball/softball fields, multiple basketball courts, flex fields for football/soccer, tennis courts, skate park, a swimming complex, 9 hole golf course, amphitheater, and so on. Piedmont Park in Atlanta is around 190 acres and has 12 tennis courts, two softball/baseball fields, two soccer fields, two beach volleyball courts, and a swimming center, and still has acres and acres of open space and trails. It's a bummer that Springfield's park's aren't big enough to do even do 1/3rd of that.

[Ken_FSU]

I know I am poking the bear here  and respect the opposing heartfelt points of view.

I hope everyone feels the same in reverse.

I love reading your takes, even when I disagree!

Very glad you're here, buddy!

It's very boring when everyone agrees 

Speaking of everyone agreeing:

The 17-1 vote last night really made my night. There will ALWAYS be needless politicking in this city, but it was great to see the City Council (obvious exception aside) come together to flesh out an agreement, for the good of the city, that everyone could agree on. This could have very easily been railroaded to try to avoid giving Donna credit.

Love the path that we're currently on.

And double-love the shortening of the 15-month window to 12-months.