A.G. Gancarski
Way back in April, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan issued a provocative statement that some might consider an example of foreshadowing.
“As someone who is committed to Jacksonville, as a citizen, businessperson and owner of the Jaguars, I am going to be active in the political process here,” Khan said in a statement.
That wasn’t all he said, of course. He also said “I believe in Mayor Brown and am proud to support him. This is a critical time in the history of Jacksonville and it’s important to maintain the momentum we’ve experienced in job growth and the resulting economic upturn, all under the leadership of Mayor Brown.”
Well, Mayor Brown is headed out the door. And Shad Khan? He’s still active in the political process.
One principal area of activity: the Shipyards project. This wide-ranging redevelopment project for the Shipyards property is the latest in a series of proposals to revive the former site of the Jacksonville Shipyards, which were a hotbed of 20th century activity.
A problem that probably was foreseeable: the cleanup costs and protocols associated with the project.
The cost of cleanup is still unknown… and theoretically could be prohibitive. Another issue would be, perhaps, that levels of contamination might be such that the project would have to be substantially reconfigured.
Lenny Curry is going to have to build a relationship with Khan sooner than later. Alvin Brown was able to, after at least one false start.
Managing Shad Khan is bound to be a challenge. The feel-good moments of Khan’s launch in the Jacksonville market are over. People aren’t rocking the fake mustaches anymore. More prominent is Khan’s investment group, Stache Investments, which has its own swagger that no one expected back in those heady days of 2011.
Stache’s foreclosure on the old Barnett Bank Building, which came just as people had forgotten the David Vs. Goliath play that was the Edgewood Bakery foreclosure, was yet another example (as was Khan dropping the KYN investment in 2014) that Shad Khan is at heart a businessman.
If there’s one thing we know about Shad Khan, it’s that he likes incumbents. This bodes well for Curry, who introduced Khan at a fundraiser in Fall 2014, and who has had nothing but a cordial relationship with the Jaguars owner since. The reality, however, is that any working relationship with Shad Khan comes with expectations. Fulfilling those expectations is one of the most important roles of any Jacksonville mayor for as long as Khan is “all in” in Jacksonville.
And another reality: he will always speak his mind. People with over $4B in the bank tend to do that.
