JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars debuted a new project that will transform the look and feel of the downtown area.
The project includes a Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, a new office building, an orthopedic sports medicine complex and improvements to the city-owned marina and public spaces. The project is in partnership with Iguana Investments.
The team also released details about the vision for a football performance center, which will be the first step in creating the “Stadium of the Future” for Jags fans.
The team hopes the projects will help to increase the number of jobs in and visitors to Downtown, boost community development and the Downtown residential population.
The team says the projects will also help solidify Jacksonville as the home of the Jaguars for generations to come.
The team outlined two planned phases for the development.
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Jaguars' plan for Downtown
‘Phase 1’ includes a Four Seasons which is a joint venture between the Four Seasons and Iguana Investments. The team says the hotel will feature 176 rooms and 25 residential units and is anticipated to open in early 2025.
The hotel will feature a five-star spa, two restaurants, ballroom, meeting spaces and marina.
Also included in ‘Phase 1’ is a football performance center that’s promised to deliver the “Stadium of the Future” for Jaguars fans in the coming years.
The team says the space will be a hybrid facility that blends football performance and public access. It will be built next to the stadium near Gate 2 and will include public art, public viewing stands, restrooms, concession areas, a retail store and also a public meeting space.
Team leaders say the current space dedicated to football operations inside TIAA Bank Field does not meet NFL team requirements and creating a football performance center will allow the Jaguars team and football operations to move out of the stadium permanently, permitting the stadium renovations to commence.
This process will also allow for Jaguar home games to continue to be played at TIAA Bank Field during stadium renovations.
The team is expected to sign a long-term lease of the practice facility, anticipated to open in summer 2023, in addition to contributing $60 million – or 50 percent – of the cost. The Jaguars say the team will bear full responsibility for ongoing cost, maintenance and operational costs of the football facilities, which in the past have been the responsibility of the City of Jacksonville.
The team says the City-owned performance center will provide 125,000 square feet of space containing locker rooms, team and positional meeting rooms, training and recovery areas, medical support facilities, a state-of-the-art weight room, dining facilities, coaches and scouts’ offices, a draft room and public meeting space. Additionally, there will be two full-size grass practice fields and a full-size indoor practice field, which will allow for the City of Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department to program the existing Flex Field 300-plus days a year.
The city-owned marina will also be renovated and modernized to include the construction of a new 6,500-square foot marina support building to include a dockmaster’s office, ship store, restrooms with showers, a food and beverage venue and a marina park and an events lawn. The team says the marina facilities will continue to be owned by the City of Jacksonville.
‘Phase 1’ will also include the delivery of a six-floor office building including 116,000 square feet of leasable space comprised of 100,000 square feet of Class A office space and 16,000 square feet of retail, café and amenity space. This will become the future home of the Jaguars' business operations, affiliated companies and third-party tenants.
The total estimated development cost for Phase 1 of the project is $441 million.
'Phase 2' will include a 42,000 square-foot orthopedic sports medicine complex featuring advanced medical care for sports injury, recovery and prevention, as well as optimal performance training.
The medical care, programs and services provided here will meet the needs of athletes at all levels, in all sports – ranging from sports enthusiast and weekend warriors to competitive high school, collegiate and professional athletes.
'Phase 2' will also include 15,000 square feet of street-level retail space, a parking structure with 200-plus spaces and possibly a residential component.
The Jaguars say this two-phase project will be a catalyst for more development and growth in and around Downtown, all of which will draw people to the Northbank for work, play, entertainment and more.
Anyone interested in the success of Downtown and who would like to receive more information about the Jaguars’ development plans is encouraged to go to www.1stdowntownjax.com to sign up for email updates, connect on social media and register to show their support for these projects.