Khan, Jaguars expect Lot J development to begin early 2020

[Pottsburg]

No way should they be in charge of downtown. They would screw that up real quick.

[landfall]

I wouldn't doubt they are looking at St John's County tbh, especially on the border with Duval around Fruit Cove/St. Johns. Theres plenty of cheap land, wealthy people and a dearth of entertainment options. However, I also can't see the tax base there being large enough to commit big money to a new stadium. Same as there won't be a new stadium on the current site. It'll be renovations or leaving town altogether, IMO.

Personally I don't think there is a lot wrong with the stadium. Its not like the Oakland stadium which was a complete dump nor anywhere near as old and basic as say Buffalo is or San Diego was.

[thelakelander]

I doubt they are looking at St. Johns County. No offense, but it's podunkville in terms of the NFL. This market is Jax or bust and the existing stadium is the site. I could have sworn that they have already stated that renovation of the existing stadium is what they are looking at. This would include throwing a roof on it, similar to what was done in South Florida with the Dolphin's stadium.

[MusicMan]

I'm watching the KC vs Buffalo game and Kansas City , defending Super Bowl Champs, have a pathetic little video board. Maybe someone should tell Shad Khan it's (video board) not as important as the god damn team that plays on the field.

[jaxlongtimer]

If they ever considered moving the stadium, I would propose the likely site would be on land owned by the Davis family south of JTB and north of the county line/Nocatee,  They still own thousands of undeveloped acres there and it would be centrally located to the higher income areas of the Beaches, Southside and St. Johns County with interstate-type access from JTB and maybe some new roads connecting from I-295 or the Nocatee Parkway. 

Not encouraging the urban sprawl that would bring above and beyond what is already going on around there but I don't think there is a better spot after Downtown.  And Khan and the Davis's could combine their billions to build another new "city" around such a stadium.  The incentive for them to make the land available for free or a great deal is the roads, cache and traffic that would enhance the value of the rest of their property.  Not unlike their donation of 400 acres to Mayo, the Fletcher's donation to the PGA or the Skinner's donating land for UNF.

[thelakelander]

I don't think they are looking for the Anyplace USA suburban experience. That's counterproductive to everything they've proposed or discussed so far. There's nothing special about that and Davis (or any other private entity) isn't going to give the NFL anywhere near the hundreds of millions in money that COJ would. Davis doesn't need to subsidize a NFL stadium to continue developing their property. It's also hard to see COJ pushing for something like that. Taxpayers would have to spend a billion on a new stadium and be left with an albatross in the Sports and Entertainment District.

[marcuscnelson]

This conversation seems like a lot of wasted breath. If they're going to move, they're going to move. Pretending there's even a conversation to be entertained about the Jags moving anywhere within this market is a fool's errand.

[jaxlongtimer]

This conversation seems like a lot of wasted breath. If they're going to move, they're going to move. Pretending there's even a conversation to be entertained about the Jags moving anywhere within this market is a fool's errand.

No one was advocating for a move.  I think this was just a speculative discussion of "what ifs."  Typical of these forums to think above and beyond the possibilities in front of us.  Although, agreed, it is highly unlikely, it is not entirely an option off the table until it is, especially given other teams have stadiums remote from their urban core/downtown.

Coincidentally, Mark Woods just ran this column about "stand alone stadiums" associated with the final four of this year's NFL playoffs:

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/mark-woods/2021/01/23/nfls-final-four-proves-smaller-markets-can-compete-and-off-field/6669753002/

His conclusion:

....But all four of these cities and teams punch giant holes in one half of the argument for Lot J — that for a small-market team to be viable, it has to have an entertainment district next to the stadium, and taxpayers have to pay for most of it.

The other half of the argument was that this would pump some much-needed life into downtown. How we do that remains a good question. But perhaps it should have been preceded by this: Is pouring hundreds of millions into Lot J the best way to do it? And is the sports complex even downtown?

While it is only about a mile from the tallest buildings (as the Trevor Lawrence pass flies), the reality is that it’s detached from downtown. And, at least for now, maybe that’s OK.

Maybe it’s OK that Lot J remains a parking lot.

Maybe we should focus on the future of the stadium, not a parking lot next to it. And maybe instead of trying to turn our sports complex into our downtown, we should make the most of our existing riverfront and downtown.

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City:


Raymond James Stadium, Tampa:


Aerial video showing parking lots as far as you can see around Arrowhead and the Royal's stadium complex:
https://youtu.be/_1S6CbMrKyM