New proposal from SouthEast:
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2024/05/09/developer-makes-new-request-for-laura-street-trio-in-jacksonville/73585217007/
No more loan guarantee, but the ask is for $49 million in cash grants (including $21 million that would be paid upon closing of financing), $22 million in Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program loans, and another $2 million forgivable loan, as well as a 75% property tax rebate for 10 years.
Overall project cost is now $191 million.
It's a lot of public money ($50 million in cash), and very risky/potentially sets a bad precedent to pay Southeast $21 million upfront upon them securing financing.
RE: Lori Boyer's quote here:
"It is a big number," Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said. "It's a big city investment in the deal, and I think that's a policy decision for City Council and the mayor's office about the importance of this building and how it fits into the bigger picture of city expenditures. But from the standpoint of whether this is what it takes to get this deal done — probably."
If it's the best we can do and this is what it will take, I think we've got to pinch our nose and do it, just to get this thing done and avoid restarting from scratch or letting the property get tied up in litigation for years.
It's obvious that it's a lot of city money to build it.
What's less obvious but equally important is how much money we're losing, both in opportunity and in high subsidies, by having this blight in the heart of our CBD.
Do what we gotta do, get her done, and then move on from Southeast.
Costs and wackiness aside, it's a great mix of uses, will bring life to Laura Street and complement our investments on periphery, and is a fifty times better use of $40-$50 million dollars than subsidizing the Related high rise on the Southbank.
