A.G. Gancarski
The District development on Jacksonville’s Southbank could cost taxpayers up to $26 million in infrastructure work.
The deal has taken longer to unfold than expected, and when the deal was originally approved, the expectation was that the city would spend less, that JEA would get paid back $27 million for demolition and cleanup, and the project would be done by now.
Council members — specifically, Republican Matt Schellenberg, the JEA liaison — balked, per the news side of the Florida Times-Union.
“If it was proposed and indicated that the city would have put up $26 million on infrastructure, I’m pretty sure we would have had additional bidders three and a half years ago,” Schellenberg said in December. “I don’t believe this group (Elements) had the financial wherewithal to get this done in the first place.”
“I will encourage my colleagues that this isn’t in the best interest of the shareholders of Jacksonville,” he added.
The Downtown Investment Authority is slated to vote on a term sheet for the District deal Wednesday — one step toward it becoming reality.
During the agenda meeting for the Jacksonville City Council, numerous Council members raised questions about the logistics of the deal.
Schellenberg urged a special meeting of Council regarding the District proposal.
Notable: Schellenberg and TU editorial page editor Mike Clark had a spirited debate at a Friday media panel at the River Club.
Clark backs proposal and indicated as much in a glowing editorial endorsement that said that the District developers “seek to avoid Jacksonville’s previous sins.” Schellenberg has been consistent in his skepticism, urging an open discussion of these issues, and Clark’s endorsement did not move him on Friday or this week.
Councilman Tommy Hazouri — a former Democratic Mayor of the city — was likewise less than sold, saying the T-U editorial had more details than Council has gotten.
“The paper seemed to know a lot more about it than anyone else here,” Hazouri remarked. “We need to hear firsthand [from the developers] before it gets running faster than a speeding bullet.”
The mood of the Council seems to be toward either a workshop or a special committee, though the current special committees have not had a ton of forward momentum.
The District deal is backed by some key backers of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. But Council, which often backs his plays, wants answers and guarantees.
This threshold was much more intelligible to the T-U’s news operation than the editorial page, and the gap between editorial and reporting also bears watching throughout the development of the deal.
