JEA CEO Jay Stowe said Jan. 28 that a partnership with the Jacksonville Port Authority to redevelop the 2,000-acre St. Johns River Power Park property near the Blount Island Marine Terminal and St. Johns River is not the utility's only option.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion that this is a one-on-one discussion,” Stowe said. “We’re going to continue to analyze what our best path forward is. One of those will be to have discussions with the port that we can have now because the RFQ has been removed,” Stowe said.
JEA canceled its request for proposals to find a master developer for the site Jan. 21. JaxPort said it intended to submit a bid.
Port Authority CEO Eric Green said during a Jan. 25 board meeting that the agency is still interested in buying and redeveloping the power park. He said current and former port shipping tenants are interested in using the property.
JaxPort officials see a redeveloped power park as an opportunity to increase port container volume and revenue.
The property — site of a demolished coal-fired power plant, the St. Johns River Coal Terminal and other parcels — is about 1,100 developable acres and will likely require environmental cleanup.
Stowe said he was allowed to hold discussions with JaxPort officials while they were an active bidder to the RFQ. The JEA chief executive was under a cone of silence provision in the utility’ procurement rules while the solicitation was active.
Both JEA and JaxPort are independent authorities of the city.
Stowe said an outright property sale was not the intent of the power park solicitation.
“The intent is to develop the property in the best way possible. One of those options could be a sale,” he said. “One of those options could be years of development in conjunction with other partners in the area.”
Stowe wants to engage with stakeholders including the port authority, JAX Chamber and its economic development division JAXUSA Partnership and other city agencies to make the best decision about the property.
According to JEA, the property was specifically excluded from the recent utility charter changes that increased restrictions City Council placed on JEA’s ability to unilaterally sell its assets without Council approval.
“Our goals haven’t changed and we’re going to continue to go down the path making decisions for the development of a piece of property that can be impactful for years to come in that area,” Stowe said.
Board Chair John Baker said Jan. 28 that JEA owes it the utility’s bondholders and the city to get the best financial and economic deal for the power park, whether that’s from JaxPort or the broader private market.
“If we work with the port and come up with the best plan, that would be a wonderful solution,” Baker said. “But we’ve got a responsibility to make sure we don’t just negotiate with one person and leave a lot of money on the table for the city. We’re not going to do that.”