The Downtown Investment Authority is requesting proposals from firms interested in developing a new convention center Downtown at the site of the former City Hall Annex and Duval County Courthouse.
DIA advertised a Notice of Disposition on Friday for approximately 8.4 acres of city-owned property along East Bay Street.
According to the 70-page notice package, the DIA envisions the new development to be “an immediate enhancement to the financial viability and dynamism of surrounding facilities in the Urban Core and the Sports Complex, and to the city of Jacksonville in general.”
“Jacksonville has the location and physical assets to be a world-class city with a socially and economically vibrant Downtown,” it states.
The notice comes after the DIA board voted in January to allow CEO Aundra Wallace to begin seeking bids for the project.
Wallace was not available Friday for comment.
Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief of Staff Brian Hughes said Friday that encouraging economic development, in Downtown or across the city, is one of Curry’s top priorities.
“We hope DIA receives responses that demonstrate a bold vision for Jacksonville’s future while also being consistent with the mayor’s commitment to economic returns that protect taxpayers’ investments,” Hughes said.
The requirements
Prospective developers are asked to include plans for a full-service convention center hotel with a minimum of 350 rooms, 200,000 square feet of public exhibition space, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, 45 breakout and meeting rooms and a full-service restaurant. Other aspects of the development include retail, additional dining options and possibly boat slips and a marina.
The developer also must include a parking garage with 400 spaces for the hotel and 1,300 spaces for convention center visitors.
According to the notice, the DIA is likely to offer some form of public investment in the project.
Property tax incentives, fees for food, lodging and entertainment, the contribution of land and site preparation in the form of infrastructure, streetscaping or public green space could be included in an economic development agreement.
Interested firms are asked to outline what, if any, public investment would be required.
The deadline for bids is 2 p.m. Aug. 1.
The DIA will evaluate the submissions during a 60-day due diligence period.
An evaluation committee will use a 100-point scale to score each submission on executive vision and strategy, team organization and history of completed projects, program management plan, financial analysis and financial plans, site activation and design and any public/private partnership approach.
Firms are asked to include renderings, a timeline of project milestones and financial credentials relevant to the proposal.
The committee then will choose the top three proposals, based on the scores, for formal presentations to the committee. Those submissions could receive 10 additional points during the presentations.
The highest-ranking firm can then begin negotiations with the DIA on what it calls a “Project Term Sheet,” a framework for an economic development agreement, “which may contain a mutually agreeable Purchase and Sale Agreement,” according to the notice.
From there the DIA board and City Council would need to approve an economic development agreement.
The project would go next to the owners of the 951-room Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel. MCSW JAC Hospitality LLC, which shares an address with Houston-based Westmont Hospitality Group, has the first right of refusal to purchase the property if the city were to sell.
According to its website, privately held Westmont has an ownership interest in more than 500 hotels worldwide.
Pending demolition
Last year, Mayor Lenny Curry earmarked $8 million in his 2017-18 budget to demolish the former City Hall Annex and Duval County Courthouse at 220 and 330 E. Bay St.
On Feb. 28, nine companies submitted responses to a Request for Qualifications to provide their credentials for permitting and demolition services.
J.B Coxwell Contracting Inc., D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. Inc., Sabre Demolition Corp., Environmental Holdings Group LLC, Pece of Mind Environmental Inc., Total Wrecking & Environmental LLC, Jackson Demolition Services Inc., Dore & Associates Contracting Inc. and Timmons Contracting Corp. provided responses.
Those who qualify will be asked to formally submit bids at a later date.
On Thursday, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission approved demolition of the seven-story courthouse built in 1956, and the 15-story City Hall Annex built in 1960.
Both buildings are vacant.
The city relocated most of its legislative and executive branch operations in 1997 to the St. James Building at 117 W. Duval St. at Hemming Park. The State Attorney’s Office then occupied the building for a few years.
Courthouse operations relocated in 2012 to the new Duval County Courthouse at 501 W. Adams St.
The need for a convention center
The idea for building a new convention center stemmed in part from a study commissioned by the DIA in June 2017 conducted by Strategic Advisory Group.
The study detailed, among other things, how other Florida and southern cities have proceeded with building new convention centers and the impact facilities have had on those communities.
SAG indicated that Jacksonville is not a top meeting and convention center destination compared to those cities, although it did support the concept of a new Downtown facility as a key component of the overall redevelopment of the urban core.
The report concluded that until Downtown becomes a destination that can attract conventions, it is not ready for a new convention center, although that response was based on the perception that Jacksonville lacks key criteria sought by convention planners.
SAG estimated the cost of a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall could range from $250 million to $430 million. It also calculated that parking spaces could cost $20,000 to $30,000 per space, which works out to be $34 million to $51 million.
The study identified the courthouse annex property as a site for the center.
Jacksonville currently operates the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center at 1000 Water St., a former railroad terminal built in 1919 in the LaVilla neighborhood.
In 1986, the city converted it into a convention center with 78,000 square feet of exhibition space. There is no nearby hotel.
The SAG report suggested that the center has historically performed below industry standards with annual occupancy below 30 percent. The industry standard is 70 percent occupancy.