Lenny Curry wants to bring NFL draft to Jacksonville

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is known as an ardent football fan, so it’s really not a surprise he is in Dallas this weekend for the NFL Draft.

What may surprise some is that he’s pitching Jacksonville as a host city for a future draft.

“We believe based on size and scope that Jax will be prepared to host and in a strong position to make that case. We met with production teams and with the Commissioner plus other league [professionals],” Curry told Florida Politics Friday.

Benefits abound for the host city.

“As a televised event it highlights the host city,” Curry said, “and as a large live arena event it is a massive fan experience.”

“In both ways,” the mayor added, “it would be an amazing way to showcase everything from the Beaches to downtown and in between.”

Philadelphia hosted the Draft last year, Curry said. City officials says it received $95 million of local economic impact. Dallas, meanwhile, has 450,000 registrants for tickets, with 30 percent from out of state.

This is, essentially, a potential showcase event for the city. And, as we reported last week, the city is moving to develop its sports complex further, in partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Cordish Companies was announced as the development partner for what a media release called “a $2.5 billion world-class, mixed-use district in the downtown sports complex.”

Back in July, Khan took Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa on a tour of Cordish developments in Baltimore and St. Louis.

The city leaders were wowed.

Curry emailed Mousa while on the trip: “Let’s debrief quickly after today’s St Louis trip and tomorrow’s Baltimore on downtown development. We need to discuss design, finance, infrastructure.”

Curry has also done his part to try to redirect the Sports Complex into a destination beyond football games and arena events.

Jacksonville taxpayers have authorized $88 million for city-funded capital improvements to the Jaguars’ stadium: $43 million for the world’s biggest scoreboard during the Alvin Brown administration, and under the Curry administration, half of a $90 million buy-in that secured a new amphitheater, a covered practice field, and club seat improvements.

As plans proceed apace for the Sports Complex, expect traffic to be redirected in that direction soon.

The state allocated in March $12.5 million for Jacksonville’s Talleyrand Connector, an ambitious reconfiguration of Hart Bridge offramps that would route traffic on surface streets by the stadium and toward the port. Jacksonville is also pursuing $25 million in federal money.

This project was originally pitched to the Duval Delegation in 2016 as a way of activating the property near the Sports Complex, a burgeoning entertainment district. Further studies in 2017 found benefits in terms of routing traffic to and from the port.

Khan isn’t the only member of Jacksonville’s donor class rolling out an impressive proposal.

Politically connected developers Peter Rummell and Michael Munz are looking to develop The District, pending City Council approval of the terms, which include $25 million in infrastructure spending and up to $56 million in REV Grants.

If this all comes together, it will be a development legacy for the Curry administration, kickstarting areas of the city that have languished for years.

And if the timing is right, the Draft may spotlight an ambitious round of public-private partnerships toward downtown development.