JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A plan by Jaguars owner Shad Khan to develop the Jacksonville Shipyards is one step closer to materializing, but still far from reality.
Under the proposal, Khan hopes to build a Four Seasons hotel and a mixed-used development on the shipyard site and a portion of Metropolitan Park. The original plan to build the hotel on the park site was turned down by the National Park Service in 2020. It has control over a portion of the original park site.
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On Wednesday, the Downtown Investment Authority approved a plan that would allow Khan’s development team six months to run environmental tests on the soil in part of the park site, which is not under control of the National Park Service. The vote was unanimous.
The measure approved Wednesday is not an approval of a plan to allow the site to be used for building the hotel. It only approves environmental exploration of the land, which could help determine the cost of the project.
As written by WJCT News, the decision was met with opposition from a coalition of groups that banded together to form Riverfront Parks Now. The DIA received emails or voice messages from 51 people asking for the resolution to be turned down.
The DIA plans to hold a workshop next Tuesday, where it will look over plans to address riverfront development in Downtown Jacksonville.