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Downtown board will seek proposals for new convention center in Jacksonville

David Bauerlein
dbauerlein@jacksonville.com

By the summer, Jacksonville will know whether oft-studied plans for building a new convention center on the downtown riverfront can attract interest from private developers willing to bank on the city as a destination for conventions that currently bypass Jacksonville.

The Downtown Investment Authority voted unanimously Wednesday to issue a request for proposals from private entities. The request will go out nationally, probably in February, and groups will have 120 days to submit proposals that would lay out financing arrangements and show what their buildings would look like.

The envisioned convention center complex could cost several hundred million dollars.

The city is requesting proposals for a hotel with at least 350 rooms, along with convention center space large enough to contain a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, and at least 45 meeting rooms. The development would provide at least 400 parking spaces for the hotel and another 1,300 parking spaces for the convention center.

The request for proposals will offer up city-owned land where the vacant former county courthouse and City Hall Annex stand, next to the Hyatt Regency hotel.

Downtown Investment Authority CEO Aundra Wallace said the city has fielded inquiries about building a convention center so the request for proposals is the next step in opening the door to any group that wants to submit a formal proposal.

Wallace said the time is right to test the waters as the city pushes for development on two other big tracts of publicly owned land: the Southbank land owned by JEA that used to be the site of the Southside Generating Station and the Northbank land comprising The Shipyards and Metropolitan Park.

Both those parcels need to be developed in order to create a downtown that will lift the city’s profile and convince groups to bring their conferences to Jacksonville, Wallace said. A convention center would a “third star” for downtown’s growth, he said.

“I’m saying let’s begin to start to have a dialogue and conversation and see if we can’t get that third star to somewhat align with the other two,” Wallace said.

He said for any large-scale development, it takes time to negotiate development deals, so it’s a “reasonable time” to bring the convention center into the mix.

“Do you go out in the market now, or do you wait until there’s a downturn in the economy and marketplace and you have this conversation five, seven, 10 years from now?” he said to the board.

DIA board members agreed to move forward. Board member Oliver Barakat successfully amended the staff’s original proposal and put more weight on attracting an iconic design for the convention center.

Board member Jack Meeks said that component is essential because the proposed site would be on the riverfront.

“If we end up doing something like this, it’s got to be a knockout and a home run — something we’ll be proud of for the next 50 years,” Meeks said.

The city’s request for proposals won’t specify any particular incentives the city would offer to private groups, but will say the city “is open to receiving various financial arrangements.”