Staff Writer
The Shipyards property is a step closer to City ownership following approval by the City Council Finance Committee on Tuesday.
Pending full Council approval, the final closing could be within two weeks, Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton told the committee.
The Council meets Tuesday.
At last appraisal, the 40 acres of riverfront property along the Northbank was valued at $20-$25 million, down from $40 million earlier, Barton said.
Barton told the committee he believes it will be worth more over time. “I’m very confident we have a very valuable piece of property,” he said.
In 2001, the City entered into a development agreement for the property with TriLegacy LLC and issued $49 million in excise tax revenue bonds to finance public improvements.
TriLegacy defaulted on the obligations in 2005 and the City approved a transfer to LandMar Group and its subsidiary, Northbank Developers, to continue the project. The company defaulted on mortgage payments, then filed for bankruptcy reorganization, with agreements to turn the property back over to the CIty in lieu of foreclosure.
A remaining unsecured claim of $41 million is subject to the bankruptcy reorganization.
When legislation to take back the property was introduced May 25, Barton told the Daily Record that there was no reason to rush to develop it.
“It’s about the right time, the right concept and the right partner,” he said. “There’s no need to rush the discussion. Land-banking the site is not a bad decision.”
In other news from the committee meeting:
• The meeting started with a public hearing regarding the yearly property assessment for Downtown Vision Inc. Mike Jennings, Prudential Financial vice president of government relations, was the only speaker. Jennings discussed the services DVI provides and the need for continued city support. Downtown property owners are assessed to pay for the DVI services and the City contributes as well.
• Two measures involving the courts were approved. The first was an ordinance adjusting surcharges from $15 to $30 that may be levied on certain non-criminal traffic and criminal violations. The State Legislature amended Florida Statutes in 2009 to allow for such an increase. Money collected from the surcharge will go toward a trust fund for court maintenance and improvements of the new courthouse. The
second approved ordinance appropriates $20,415 from
the Courts Technology/Circuit Courts account to buy 17 laptops for Drug Court case workers and general magistrates.
• An emergency order that extends and amends the lease among the City, University of Florida and University of Georgia to continue the annual Georgia/Florida football game through 2016 was approved. Provisions within the lease include: no other event will be scheduled within the Sports Complex on the day of the game; the City will pay $50,000 a year to each school to assist in travel and lodging, with an additional $300,000 per year going to UGA for the cost of chartering three 50-passenger planes; both universities are allowed the right to designate a naming sponsor and keep any fees; the schools control all ticket rights to the games with the exception of suite seat tickets, which are controlled and set by the Jaguars; and the City provides a seating capacity of 82,917, among other items.
• An ordinance that would appropriate $95,000 from an Autumn Bond in District 13 to fund a training room for the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps in Jacksonville Beach was approved.
• An ordinance appropriating $297,843 in federal emergency shelter grants funds to provide housing assistance and relative support for the Sulzbacher Center was approved.
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