Building Up Jax: Jags planning to build entertainment complex on Lot J

JAGS TO DEVELOP ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX ON LOT J

The Jaguars – or, more specifically, Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments development company – may be looking to build an entertainment complex in the stadium’s Lot J parking lot.

Jags’ president Mark Lamping confirmed during a conference keynote speech this week that the team hopes to break ground on a Lot J entertainment complex as early as mid-2019.

The lot is controlled by the team. The development would integrate with the planned redevelopment of the long-abandoned Shipyards property along the St. Johns River near the stadium.

TWO MORE RIVERSIDE CLOSURES

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Riverside-area restaurants.

Following the recently announced closure of HOBNOB, Brooklyn Station eatery Grabbagreen and Riverside’s IL DESCO will be shutting their doors as well.

Grabbagreen had opened in Brooklyn Station last year, but struggled to gain traction among the other nearby food options. IL DESCO, a Forking Amazing Restaurants concept, will close down and its location will be evaluated for new uses. Gift cards will be honored at Cowford Chophouse, as well as Bistro AIX when it reopens in February.

WHOOPS!

It turns out that First Coast Energy isn’t planning to build a Daily’s at 5344 Ortega Blvd., where we noted that they recently received a demo permit.

According to Jax Daily Record, this will instead become the first Florida location for Edley’s Bar-B-Que.

NOTED PROJECTS

• The Falls, a new neighborhood within the Shearwater community in northern St. Johns County, was announced this week by Boston-based Freehold Communities. David Weekley Homes and Dream Finders Homes will be developing houses for the neighborhood, which will also include a community garden, nature trails, and a four-acre park.
• Florida Public Utilities will be moving its headquarters from Fernandina Beach to Wildlight, a new town being developed 20 miles north of Jacksonville in Nassau County. Their new HQ building will be 18,000 square feet, with construction set to begin in mid-2018.
• Target at 9041 Southside Blvd. will undergo a $1.1 million renovation to fit with the chain’s next-generation store model, according to Jax Daily Record. It’ll be the first Jax location to get the full next-gen treatment, but almost certainly not the last. The renovation is expected to happen by 2020.
• McGehee Residence Hall at Jacksonville University will undergo a $3 million renovation, with a permit having been issued this week for the project.
• FDOT submitted plans to rebuild the bridge on County Road 217 that crosses over I-10, as the current one isn’t tall enough and has been getting hit by trucks.
• Babies R Us at 6001 Argyle Forest Blvd. in Orange Park will close as part of Toys R Us’s nationwide store closings.
• Olive Garden will remodel its location at 10144 Philips Highway across the street from The Avenues.