The 30-day net the Downtown Investment Authority cast to bring in proposals for redeveloping the Shipyards site brought in three possibilities.
Three very different possibilities.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s interest in the riverfront property led to the DIA issuing the proposal. No surprise, his Iguana Investment Florida LLC is among the three.
Khan in February unveiled his vision, a mixed-use site that could incorporate more than 650 residential units, some commercial space, an upscale hotel, multilevel practice facilities, marine and parks.
Khan submitted a term sheet soon after, leading to the DIA meeting March 6 to talk about the next steps for selecting a developer and issuing a request for proposals.
During that meeting, Patrick Mullen, CEO of Shitaki Enterprises, told the board of his idea to invest $1.4 billion over five years to develop a boatyard and marina for mega yachts, along with a festival marketplace.
He, too, is one of the three who responded by Wednesday. His pitch, though, remains relatively unchanged from a PowerPoint his company submitted to DIA CEO Aundra Wallace about the same time. Four pages of background on luxury yachts replicated information on a Wikipedia page about the topic.
Eric Smith, an attorney representing Mullen and Shitaki, submitted a letter to Wallace saying the original submission stands. The letter went on the say the city failed to properly provide necessary information on environmental remediation for the site, making it “impossible for my client to submit a detailed proposal.”
The third group to respond, In Him, is new to the scene. Calls and emails placed to Stephen Grenda on Wednesday and Thursday morning went unreturned.
Daily Record news partner WJXT TV-4 visited Grenda at his home in a Northwest Jacksonville mobile home community. Grenda told the station his idea for the site involved a healing temple, a volleyball court and a replica of Noah’s Ark.
Next up is a DIA evaluation committee meeting at 2:30 today to talk about the next steps for the process.
The committee consists of Wallace, DIA board member Jack Meeks and Ted Carter, city Office of Economic Development executive director and CEO.
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