Ken_FSU - did the Interwebz eat a sentence or two? Or am I being dense?
I don't know what you mean as "the key piece" that "seemed absolutely necessary to negotiate it separate from the larger stadium deal, I'm a little bummed that it seems to have been kicked down the road and we haven't heard much about for the last year or so" that will cost "$100 to $200 million."
Nope Charles, I'm just a terrible communicator
What I meant was:
1. The shiny new Jags stadium, upgraded Jumbo Shrimp ballpark, MOSH 2.0, USS Orleck, Daily's Place Flex Field event-venue conversion, Shipyards West Park, rebuilt Met Park, Four Seasons, RISE at Doro, and One Shipyards Office Tower are all
fantastic additions to that side of downtown.
2. The one piece that is badly needed to turn this entire area into a cohesive 18-hour destination for game days and non-gamedays alike is a Battery/Ballpark Village/Power & Light District style sports & entertainment complex to bring the whole area to life and make it a place you spend the day at, rather than parking, going to the MOSH or an event, and then leaving to go elsewhere for food & entertainment.
3. In a perfect world, we would have negotiated this alongside the stadium. The proposed split on the venue was very city-friendly relative Lot J ($550 from Khan, ~$100 million from the city, if I recall correctly). But, from all accounts, we'd probably still be negotiating a joint stadium/entertainment complex package today due to the complexities, had we not broken them off into seperate agreements. So, when I say absolutely necessary, I mean in terms of expedience and getting a very fair stadium project with a 30-year lease extension attached approved and put before NFL owners for a vote. I just hope this hasn't slipped too far onto the back burner, as it's such an important aspect of making all of the other surrounding investment pay off. You kind of need it to attract the kinds of events that the need stadium & Met Park promise, and to drive day-to-day vibrancy of the sports district.
