Building Up Jax: Khan’s Shipyards bid chosen, Bold City opens downtown

Check out the latest Jacksonville development and construction news in this week’s edition of Building Up Jax!

Khan wins Shipyards battle

This past Tuesday, the Downtown Investment Authority announced that it had selected Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments as the winning bidder for the long-awaited Shipyards redevelopment project.

Iguana’s bid beat out two other competitors – but it was the bid that received the most hype from the start of the process.

Khan’s proposal focuses on tying together the Shipyards land with the sports district, creating a gigantic multi-use entertainment destination next door to EverBank Field and the soon-to-be-completed Daily’s Place.

The bid included up to 250,000 square feet of commercial space, up to 500,000 square feet of office space, up to 1000 residential units, four new parks, two parking garages, two pedestrian ramps over Bay Street, a hotel, and a marina.

As part of the proposal, the city would provide funds for the development of the new parks and improvements to Bay Street and A. Philip Randolph Blvd.

Noted projects

• Bold City Brewery opened its new downtown tap room yesterday at 109 E. Bay St., right next door to the pending Cowford Chophouse project.
• Burger King at 4339 Southside Blvd. received a permit for $302,937 in renovations.
• In media news, Action News Jax’s two-station partnership will be the flagship TV station(s) of the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, taking over for previous flagship station WJXT.
• Lyft and Jacksonville Aviation Authority came to an agreement this week which will make Lyft an official Jacksonville International Airport transportation service for the next year, beginning in May.
• Pancheros Mexican Grill will enter the Jacksonville market with its first location at 13423 Beach Blvd. #104.
• Clothing retailer rue21 is closing around 400 stores nationwide, but its location at Oakleaf Town Center is the only one of its four locations in Jax to be affected. (They’ll also be closing their outlet store in St. Augustine.)

See any construction going on around town that you want to know more about? Got a favorite store you want to see in Jax? Let us know! Contact us at info@buildingupjax.com and we’ll investigate.