City council approves Shad Khan’s shipyards project, including five-star hotel

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City council unanimously approved Shad Khan’s plan to redevelop the old ship yards with a five-star hotel, and mixed-use condos.

The $400 million project includes $301 million from the Jaguars and $114 million from the city in incentives.

”It shows a tremendous amount of confidence in this community. It shows commitment from the owner of the football team,” Jaguars President Mark Lamping said.

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DIA approved the plans back in July. A vote in September was delayed so council members could get more answers.

Tuesday’s vote was passed without much discussion. Lamping said that’s because they had the discussion with council members beforehand.

”We spent a lot of time talking with the community, we listened to concerns, we responded to those concerns,” Lamping said.

Councilmember Reggie Gaffney wanted the plans approved to further spark new development in downtown Jacksonville. He said the plan will bring 200,000 new jobs to the area.

”Every time we build something, that’s jobs created,” he said. “Everybody benefits when you see growth downtown, and that’s what I want to see after this project, the next project, and so many other potential projects.”

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This vote comes after the Lot J project failed to pass through city council in January.

”You’re never going to win every time. But you have an opportunity to learn lessons and I think the outcome here is great for the community and great for downtown,” Lamping said.

He added that they will continue to develop the design plans and neighbors could see work on the ground within the next year.

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