JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars named its new sports performance center on Monday -- the first of many major improvements planned for the stadium.
The team announced the 10-year deal Monday morning. The forthcoming performance center, announced under the Urban Meyer regime last year, will be called the Miller Electric Center. The facility is scheduled to open prior to the 2023 season.
But soon we will see work on other projects, like the Four Season Hotel, planned for the site across from the stadium.
News4jax tried speaking with Jaguars owner Shad Khan on Monday during a news conference – but got shut down. We tried meeting up with him afterward to speak with him about the future hotel and the overall development of the area. He said, “I want to see Jacksonville live up to its potential -- it’s huge... we have not scratched the surface,” and then was rushed away.
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In his place, we spoke to Jaguars President Mark Lamping about what will be coming to the stadium area. There has been some recent movement on a property at Metro Park, the former Kids Kampus site, which could become the Four Season Hotel and the Jaguars office complex.
“On Friday we closed on the property with the city of Jacksonville,” Lamping said. “That was a significant accomplishment and that transaction is complete. You could probably see construction fencing going up in the next 30 days or so. There is some work the city needs to complete before we can begin some horizontal work.”
Khan could pay over $370 million for the hotel and the city would offer millions in major tax breaks and incentives for the property. This would be just a start for development in the area.
Local business owner Kacheryl Gantt of the Avenue Grill is excited about what could be coming and said the training center is already paying off and it does not open until next year.
“It’s been good for the Avenue Grill,” Gantt said. “I’ve already seen a couple of Jaguar players last week to get food and stuff like that and that’s been a huge help.”
There is also talk of the stadium upgrades which may not happen until years down the line. The Jaguars said those upgrades would have to be in place for a new contract. The current contract expires in 2030 -- eight years from now.