The Downtown Investment Authority board heard updates April 19 on two proposed locations for a food hall and restaurant planned for the Shipyards West Park on Bay Street.
The latest designs submitted by the project’s contracted architect Agency Landscape + Planning LLC show a food hall with 82 subterranean parking spaces and a restaurant on Hogans Creek on the northwestern edge of the roughly 10-acre riverfront property.
DIA CEO Lori Boyer said the city agency is responsible for funding those two elements of the Shipyards West project estimated to be $13 million to $15 million.
City Council has allocated about $25 million for the main body of the park since 2021 as part of the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan.
The new renderings show the restaurant in two possible spots: on an upland cove fronting the creek and on an existing concrete platform over the water.
A plaza entrance shown on Bay Street would also allow access to the site.
Boyer said the DIA is conducting a market study and working with Agency on what would be the most viable site for the restaurant.
“The idea here is looking at the feasibility of those two locations,” Boyer said.
She said both would be desirable, “but from a staff standpoint we’re allowing the design team to proceed with these conceptually and think that this is an improvement over what you had been shown initially and it is responsive to your direction.”
Board member Craig Gibbs said the design suspended over water is reminiscent of a design “like in the Netherlands.”
The DIA board has proposed $5 million from its fiscal year 2023-24 Northbank Community Redevelopment Agency budget toward design and construction of the two Shipyards West Park restaurants.
The agency could use another $3.2 million it received in March from selling a 1.05-acre riverfront parcel on the Shipyards property to Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s development company, Iguana Investments Florida LLC.
That is for the office building in Khan’s proposed $387.6 million Four Seasons hotel-anchored project near TIAA Bank Field.
Boyer said another $5 million could come from the CRA budget in FY 2024-25, fully funding construction of the food hall and restaurant.
The city has not budgeted enough money to complete 100% of Agency’s park design, according to the DIA and the design firm’s initial estimates.
Boyer said the $25 million will complete the ticketing office for park attractions including the USS Orleck museum; a pavilion; restrooms; parking on the western portion; a flex lawn; art and children’s play areas; and a man-made beach.
A Downtown Riverwalk extension through the site and parking on Catherine Street also are funded in the Capital Improvement Plan.
Agency estimates the $25 million would not cover the restoration of the existing piers or building a boardwalk.
“Which is certainly a lovely and important part of the park design, but the budget as it stands will not accommodate the costs that are associated with what you see here,” Boyer said.
According to Boyer, Agency is planning its design to reuse the sound pier pilings and only replace the decking to save money.
Construction would start moving west to east, and Boyer said it would not be delayed despite the likelihood of asking for more Capital Improvement Plan money once final construction cost estimates come in.
Agency was awarded the design contract in January. It is still completing the plans in what the firm says will take 12 months.
Board member Jim Citrano Jr. said the park’s economic impact on Downtown warrants more city Capital Improvement Plan money, so the DIA funding could be used for more strategic private development initiatives throughout Downtown.
He urged stakeholders and the public April 19 to lobby Council and the mayor’s office to allocate more money.
“I’d hate to see a park ... not reach its full potential because of money,” Citrano said. “And that doesn’t mean we won’t value-engineer and do cost-benefit analysis. But if we’re going to do it, let’s really make it something special and impactful.”