Jacksonville city council nixes crucial Lot J proposal
For those of you not following closely the job Jaguars owner Shad Khan has done throughout his reign to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville, and attempting outside the box solutions to stabilize one of the smallest markets in the NFL, pay close attention to what just happened in Duval.
Jacksonville City county just voted down the proposed Lot J renovation that would have revitalized the downtown area near the stadium, allowing bigger corporations and high end housing to move in, thus making a small market much more competitive in local revenue.
The vote failed by one vote, 12 yes's to 7 no's. This project coupled by the one-to-two "home" games played in London, were vital to keeping the Jaguars in North Florida. The local revenue generated in the London games reportedly attributed to over 11-percent of the teams local revenue for the entire year. They were not in an attempt to gradually move the team to London permanently, but rather to help keep Jacksonville out of the bottom quadrant in the league in terms of local revenue, until Lot J could be completed.
With Lot J now in the rear view, Jacksonville will scramble to turn their attention to revitalize the Shipyards along with significant stadium renovations instead, but the feeling here is that Lot J was too crucial to the long term financial stability of the Jaguars in such a small market.
This was by no means what Shad Khans plan was when purchasing the team nearly a decade ago, but relocation may soon be on its way. The city that has waited so long for a franchise defining quarterback that may have just secured one, may have it swept from beneath their feet.
Bummer, the Lot J proposal looked like a really good setup to increase jobs and housing for the city, as well as a great setup for tourists.