A property tax incentive tied to Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s $450 million mixed-use development Lot J passed a regulatory hurdle.
The Downtown Investment Authority voted 8-0 on Nov. 18 to approve a $12.5 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant for the 400-unit residential component of Lot J west of TIAA Bank Field.
The vote came one day before the City Council is scheduled to debate the full proposed $233 million public investment package in a Nov. 19 Committee of the Whole.
Khan development company Gecko Investments LLC and its project partner, Baltimore-based The Cordish Companies, plan two luxury mid-rise residential buildings as part of the entertainment and retail project.
Gecko and Cordish are referred to jointly as Jacksonville I-C Parcel One Holding Company Investors LLC in the proposed development agreement with the city.
Council member Matt Carlucci wants the DIA to analyze and debate the full development agreement.
He filed an emergency substitute bill that strikes several ordinance code waivers in Mayor Lenny Curry’s legislation. The full Council has not signaled its support.
The REV Grant is one component Khan’s request.
In addition to the grant, the deal struck by Curry’s office asks Council to approve $208 million in debt to finance the city’s contribution to Lot J.
That would pay for $50 million of the proposed $100 million, 100,000-square-foot Live! District entertainment venue that will be owned by the city. Plans for Lot J also show 75,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space and 40,000 square feet of Class A office space.
Khan’s team is requesting a $12.5 million completion grant for the 150- to 250-room hotel.
The city’s portion also includes $77.4 million in site infrastructure improvements, including a 700-space surface parking lot built over an existing stormwater retention pond to the west of Lot J. It also would build parking garages totaling 700 spaces.
The city would be responsible for up to $15.1 million in cost overruns for the publicly owned portions of the Lot J project. That expense is factored into the debt financing in the bill.
Gecko and Cordish would pay for all other project cost overruns. Cost overruns could bring the total city investment to $233.1 million.
The city will own the retail components of the Live! District in the residential building and the parking garage, the documents state.
The hybrid virtual and in-person meeting begins at 5 p.m. in Council chambers at City Hall.
