Jacksonville Jaguars lobbyist and outside attorney Paul Harden sent a letter to City Council President Tommy Hazouri on Dec. 4 asking for a vote on team owner Shad Khan’s $450 million Lot J project by Dec. 11.
In the letter provided by Hazouri’s office, Harden said Khan’s development team and Mayor Lenny Curry administration officials met with City Council Auditor Kim Taylor from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 4 to address unresolved issues in the Lot J development agreement.
The letter also was sent to Curry administration negotiators and all 19 Council members.
“Based upon direction from Council, the group went through the Auditor’s review and list of recommendations, to determine what issues remain upon which there was not a full agreement,” the letter says. “The vast majority of the items were agreed to, subject to drafting language.”
Hazouri deferred the Lot J bill at a Committee of the Whole meeting Dec. 3 with its $245.3 million public incentive package for the entertainment, retail, hotel and residential development next to TIAA Bank Field.
Hazouri’s move makes a final vote in 2020 and before the Council’s holiday break uncertain.
Harden’s letter asks Hazouri to consider an amended Lot J bill, Ordinance 2020-0648, at the Council’s Dec. 8 meeting or at a special meeting by Dec. 11.
“I would respectfully request these matters be taken up Tuesday night or at a special Council meeting scheduled before Dec. 11,” Harden wrote.
The project is a partnership of the city, Khan development company Gecko Investments LLC and The Cordish Companies of Baltimore.
The Jaguars lobbyist said city Office of General Counsel attorney John Sawyer will create a document by Dec. 7 to incorporate the agreed-upon changes from Taylor and the Downtown Investment Authority that can be used to amend the Lot J bill.
The document also will add Council members LeAnna Cumber and Danny Becton’s request for a 1.5% room surcharge on Lot J’s 120- to 250-room hotel, up from the 1% surcharge recommended by the DIA and Council Auditor.
Hazouri’s Executive Council Assistant Amber Lehman said at 5:11 p.m. Dec. 4 that the president had not responded to the letter or Harden’s request for action.
Jaguars attorney Megha Parekh attached a list of seven remaining disagreements between Taylor and the developers. The list was sent in an email to the Council Auditor’s Office and Curry officials.
They include Taylor’s concerns about transparency for direct project costs related to city incentive payouts; developer credits for project costs savings; profit-sharing with the city for any transfer of development rights to a third-party company; and approval rights for the city for any facility improvements to the publicly owned Live! District.
“As you can see, the remaining items are not complex and, once resolved, will result in a complete agreement, subject to any amendments raised by Council members that have not been covered by the Council Auditor or DIA review,” Harden wrote.
The full list can be found linked in this story.
Sawyer’s document will not include a proposed amendment by Hazouri and Council member Randy DeFoor that would require $152 million in liquidated damages if Lot J is not completed, according to Harden
An ethics add-on by Council member Rory Diamond to restrict city employees from working for the developer — the Jaguars, Cordish and their subsidiaries — for five years after leaving city employment also will not be included, the letter states.
Harden said in the letter that they plan to go through Council member amendments in a noticed meeting by Council member Reggie Gaffney scheduled before the full Council meeting Dec. 8.
Gaffney’s Council district includes the Downtown Northbank and the proposed Lot J site.
