Development anchored in Four Seasons for city conceptual design review | Jax Daily Record | Jacksonville Daily Record
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s plans for a development anchored at a Four Seasons hotel near downtown TIAA Bank Field are due to be voted on twice next week to advance incentive plans and design proposed by the project.
The Downtown Development Review Board is due to vote Oct. 14 whether to grant concept approval to designs for the $ 321 million waterfront project.
The DDRB is meeting two days after city council is expected to vote on a $ 114 million municipal incentive package to help fund the Khan Iguana Investments Florida LLC development group project.
The four seasons are shown on the documents with the renderings.
The latest renders released by the city on October 7 show the Four Seasons hotel’s flag logo, which indicates that the five-star chain is involved in the project.
Jaguars chairman Mark Lamping told the Downtown Investment Authority board in June that Iguana expects “a longer-term deal” from the Four Seasons in Jacksonville.
Lamping said Four Seasons would likely expect the same from Khan, but Iguana and the Jaguars have not discussed the negotiations publicly since then.
Khan owns a Four Seasons hotel in Toronto.
DDRB staff documents show that Dallas-based international firm HKS Architects Inc. will design the hotel, office and marina support buildings.
In their report, DDRB staff recommends that the board vote in favor of the concept design.
The deal approved by the DIA board showed the total project including a second phase on 14.4 acres on part of the former Kids Kampus park on the grounds of city-owned shipyards.
The project includes a marina.
The DDRB report includes the entire 24.7-acre park. Iguana has pledged $ 200,000 per year for 20 years to fund the maintenance of the metropolitan park.
Khan wants to build a 10-story, 176-room Four Seasons with 25 luxury condominiums for sale; a full-service spa; a 157,027 square foot, six storey Class A office building; and a support building at the marina.
Site plans submitted to DDRB exhibition space for a 3,400 square foot river club specialty restaurant, 4,443 square foot all-day dining room, 5,400 square foot ballroom , a lobby bar, meeting rooms and a conference center.
The plans show two duplexes on the top floor, one at 1,760 square feet and the other at 3,001 square feet.
In addition to the Metropolitan Park Marina Support Building, Iguana will have the option of restoring the marina slides, expanding the North Shore promenade, and creating a lawn for events.
DDRB and Council votes next week will not include phase two, which is a 42,000 square foot orthopedic sports medicine campus by Baptist Health, 15,000 square foot street-level retail, a parking structure with more than 200 spaces and possibly a component residential area.
Iguana has not released full plans for the second phase.
Renderings show the hotel and office buildings with similar architecture of wide roof overhangs, curved lines, and glazing, which the staff report calls contemporary design.
Site plans show a large open urban space on Gator Bowl Boulevard that serves as the hotel’s front door, and the vertical construction is set back 50 feet from the St. Johns River bulkhead.
On September 16, the DDRB recommended that Council approve a design deviation for the Four Seasons site, which contradicts the downtown zoning overlay standards for river view corridors.
The overlay indicates that a development parcel on the river cannot be wider than 250 linear feet. Iguana wants the hotel plot to be 384 linear feet riverside, otherwise the required view corridor would divide the plot.

The view between the buildings.
The council could grant the waiver as part of the $ 114 million incentive bill expected for a final vote on Oct. 12.
The deviation of the code for Iguana is one of the recent requests from DIA CEO Lori Boyer and the DIA Board of Directors urging the DDRB to support longer distances between view lanes on the river. on three dense waterfront development projects.
The council could also consider similar waivers for the development of the former Duval County Courthouse site on Bay Street and for Fuqua Development’s plans on the former Florida Times-Union property, now known as One Riverside.
Site plans show that the Iguana development will have a total of 80 feet of mandatory JEA utility easements to the east and west of the office and marina support buildings that will serve as corridors overlooking the river as well as the metropolitan park to the east.
A September 16 DDRB staff report agreed with Iguana that the easements combined with the mandatory river view corridor are a constraint on development, but cautions to maintain as much visibility to the river to the public as possible.
“Staff understand that due to resilience there will be elevation changes at the site,” the report said.
“Staff recommend that the developer continue to work with DIA staff to ensure that the public view of the river afforded by these corridors is preserved to the greatest extent possible.
If brought forward by Oct. 14, Iguana will have to return to the review committee for final approval before construction can begin.
The council meets at 5 p.m. on October 12 at City Hall. The DDRB meets at 2 p.m. on October 14 on the 8th floor of the Ed Ball Building.