Driving to the stadium for the first time in 2011, Shad Khan saw it.
The tract of barren riverfront property sitting empty, neglected. The Shipyards property, he said Tuesday, was a front door to Downtown. Only it had no porch light or welcome mat.
Then he moved into the neighborhood, purchasing the Jacksonville Jaguars in January 2012.
After several years and many millions spent on in-house renovations at EverBank Field, Khan is ready to take on the challenge of the Shipyards.
SLIDESHOW: See renderings of proposed Shipyards development.
Years of speculation ended with the highly anticipated unveiling Tuesday of Khan’s idea for the property, one that includes multifamily housing, multilevel community fields, public parks, a boardwalk and a hotel.
Those were just parts of the details laid out during the team’s annual “State of the Franchise” presentation. The event serves as an update for how the team is faring in revenue compared to other NFL markets.
Those trends continue upward. But developing the Shipyards site would be an opportunity for a “rare, immediate and vitally important” piece of developing Downtown and stabilizing the team, Khan said.
Khan didn’t provide a cost estimate Tuesday, nor did he indicate what incentives he may seek from the city.
More details, he said, would be available when the plan is submitted Monday to the Downtown Investment Authority.
“I think Jacksonville has got a huge amount of potential,” said Khan, who first started talking about developing the Shipyards in June 2013.
That opportunity comes with the design from Kansas City, Mo.-based Populous, which molded the concepts Khan will pursue through a public-private partnership with the city.
And he wants to tackle the whole site.
“A piece at a time really doesn’t work in this case,” he said. “You’ve got to have a big vision in all of the things that are missing.”
What’s “missing” on the riverfront land would be broken into four “zones.”
The westernmost portion would be dubbed the “live” zone with apartments, condos next to recreational water and park landscape, all surrounded by shops and possibly a marina.
It’s the first component that would be completed to establish residential density, but Khan gave no indication as to how many units could be included.
Next and moving east, the “work” zone. At the mouth of Hogan’s Creek would be restaurants, cafes and bars mixed with office buildings.
Public green space and public art would be a part of this, along with raised buildings that would allow shade for pedestrians walking on the boardwalk.
That would blend into the “stay” zone that would feature a riverfront signature hotel situated next to multilevel community practice football fields that are part of the “play” zone.
Between the two easternmost sections would be a cable-structured pedestrian bridge that would wind its way toward the “play” zone featuring an amphitheater and public park.
The buildings throughout would resemble piers and face north and south.
Khan said he views the proposal as a “franchise-stabilizing opportunity” that would add to the game-day experience and end up attracting more fans.
He said his side is “ready to go” with the proposal, but that he would respect the public process that is needed.
The city owns the 48 acres after receiving it back from a developer who couldn’t deliver and ended up going bankrupt. As part of the bankruptcy, the city received a more than $13 million settlement that’s been set aside to handle environmental remediation on the site.
That’s still a concern, but a city-hired consultant this week is submitting the first work order for soil and groundwater assessment.
As for early support, Mayor Alvin Brown said Tuesday was the first time he saw the plans. But he liked what he saw, saying he was “1000 percent” committed to making Khan’s vision a success.
He was noncommittal when asked how much the city was willing to devote to such a project. “I want to hear more about it,” he said.
Khan said he hoped for city approval within the next 30-60 days and after any remediation, would like to proceed.
“You’ve got to start moving forward and making it as soon as possible,” Khan said afterward.
The site has seen its share of failure. Enough so that Khan dubbed it “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
Across from the jail, next to a half-completed tower, the area doesn’t present Jacksonville in the best light, he said — he wants to get started on changing that.
“The sooner, the better,” he said.
@writerchapman
(904) 356-2466