Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan — and any other potential suitor — can formally apply to develop the Shipyards in the next several days if a redevelopment schedule holds to form.
The Downtown Investment Authority on Friday morning is expected to approve a Request for Proposals to redevelop the 46-acre Downtown riverfront site. Authority CEO Aundra Wallace and staff put together the flow chart and details of the draft proposal, which was finalized Thursday night.
If the proposed schedule holds, members would discuss and vote on the RFP today, have proposals by April 15 and Wallace could begin negotiations with the board’s preferred company April 30.
DIA member Doris Goldstein said the rapid decision from the board is necessary, given the urgency in which Khan wants to pursue the development.
Board feedback, she said, will be incorporated today and the RFP largely mimics what the approved Downtown plan entails. Any tweaks could be handled later by Wallace or the administration, she said.
Board member Jim Bailey agreed the quick turnaround is necessary.
But, given the history of the Shipyards and its importance to Downtown, he said wouldn’t sign off on anything until he was comfortable with the process.
“We don’t know anything at this point,” said Bailey, who is publisher of the Daily Record. “That’s what today is for. … We’ve got to do this thing right.”
Khan and his architectural team laid out its concept for the site in recent weeks, talking about ideas like condos and apartments, a marina, a hotel, multilevel outdoor football practice fields and public parks on the site.
The request the DIA board will take up Friday lays out its own vision, albeit in vaguer terms.
It references the recently approved Business Investment and Development Plan that outlines the DIA’s plans for Downtown as a whole. As for the Shipyards site, it “demands world class design, developers and international capital.”
It can house 400,000 square feet or so of retail, according to the DIA proposal, and should house a “new iconic attraction” to increase visitor numbers. It lists possibilities of an aquarium and marine-life exhibits, a U.S. Navy ship museum, a water park with a link to Metropolitan Park and a waterfront-oriented residential community.
DIA board Chair Oliver Barakat said Thursday he would wait to see what DIA staff would provide Friday, but that public space for the site would be vital to him.
Likewise, Goldstein said how public space and the waterfront are designed would be key for her support.
In addition, Goldstein said any project would have to be done at an appropriate scale and work at the street level.
Doing so, she said, would make it work during both daytime and nighttime and for visitors and regular users.
It also is “reasonable to assume that a small commercial district” could be within the property, according to the DIA’s proposal request.
That’ll be up to the private sector, though, which can review the market feasibility study for the site. Khan’s concept called for up to 1 million square feet of office space — which isn’t likely and inserted for financing purposes — and 100,000 square feet of commercial space.
Proposals for the site will be due by April 15, with evaluations by a DIA committee and city officials taking place the week of April 16.
Once the best proposals are selected, the DIA board would pick one during an April 29 meeting and Wallace could begin negotiations with the winner the next day.
Grading would take place in three areas: qualifications and experience (up to 35 points), the redevelopment vision (up to 30 points) and the financial offer and capacity (up to 35 points).
The last part considers the financial benefits to the city.
The DIA also wants to know how the proposers want to acquire the land from the city. Khan’s term sheet offered last week has the city giving him the land for development — but only after environmental remediation of a maximum of $35 million.
The only mention of remediation in the DIA request is the acknowledgment of environmental impacts and that the city is working with a consultant to better understand and remediate.
Barakat said it’s those environmental issues with the property that have caused the DIA to hold back on issuing the call for redevelopment proposals.
“It’s preferable to understand what you have before you put something out,” said Barakat, a CBRE senior vice president.
Goldstein, the board’s newest member, said she couldn’t say why one wasn’t issued sooner. But she speculates there wasn’t much interest before Khan announced his plan.
“I think there has been a real acceleration in Downtown,” she said, “and now is the appropriate time for that."
@writerchapman
(904) 356-2466