Dallas-based Preston Hollow Capital LLC intends to close on bonds to partially fund construction at The District by the end of 2020, according to Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer.
The investment firm, which assumed control of the proposed $600 million, mixed-use project on the Downtown Southbank on Sept. 4, traveled to Jacksonville last week and met with DIA officials, Boyer said during a Sept. 16 board meeting.
Preston Hollow will not meet an Oct. 1 deadline set by Boyer and city attorneys for The District’s former lead developer to close on the revenue bonds, which are benchmarks in a development agreement for the project with the city and the DIA.
“No, they’re not going to close by the end of the month but they are going to close by the end of the year,” Boyer said. “We have a lot of meetings set up and a lot of steps we’re doing to get the closing documents ready. They flew into town last week to meet with us on it and go through the checklist of who has to do what.”
Michael Munz, co-lead of Elements Development of Jacksonville LLC, which led the proposed development from 2014 to early this month, said Sept. 4 that Preston Hollow was assuming the rights and responsibilities of The District and the redevelopment agreement.
Munz controls Elements with co-developer Peter Rummell, who will remain attached to the project as consultants.
The District’s $31.1 million in Community Development District bonds and bond insurance will pay for the infrastructure supporting the development.
Munz and Rummell will stay on as consultants to provide “support, counsel and development expertise” to Preston Hollow’s team.
Preston Hollow’s plans to close on bonds by the end of the year were revealed before the DIA board took action Sept. 16 to allocate $483,908 in investment pool earnings for Downtown’s Southbank Community Redevelopment District.
The DIA could use about $373,476 of those earnings to put toward the agency’s $26.4 million infrastructure obligation for The District if the project moves forward.
In 2018, the DIA board agreed to finance $26.4 million in public infrastructure at the development.
The DIA agreed to build three riverfront parks totaling 3.5 acres, another 1-acre pocket park, a 1,900-foot expansion of the Southbank Riverwalk and bulkhead construction, a walking trail around the development, a parking lot for 100 public spaces and the expansion of three roads for public access.
Preston Hollow facilitated an $18.59 million payment to Elements in July 2018 to secure the 30-acre site next to the Duval County School Board building from previous owner JEA.
Elements secured a $20 million mortgage with Preston Hollow Capital at that time, according to Duval County property records, then closed on the property.
Plans for the proposed project comprise residential, retail, hotel and office space on the former site of JEA’s Southside Generating Station.