Why a New Downtown Convention Center Would Be Great News for Jacksonville

When the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center opened its doors in 1986, it never felt like a long-term solution.

First constructed in 1919 as the city’s Union Terminal, it was much older than the average convention center building. It offered less than 100,000 square feet of exhibit space. Its location in LaVilla, an important railroad junction, puts it a long walk from the heart of downtown. The nearest hotel is the Omni, also about a twenty-minute walk away.

Attempts were made over the years to develop a new center, closer to the downtown business district. Even before the redevelopment of the Union Terminal, many in the community pushed for a more practical location.

And yet here we are, over twenty years later, with the Prime Osborn still serving as Jacksonville’s only true convention center.

The center has operated at a loss for years, and routinely has an occupancy rate under 30%.

That’s why the Downtown Investment Authority’s unanimous vote last week in favor of opening the bidding process for a new convention center is such a big deal.

The board wants to see “iconic” proposals that include a 200,000 square foot exhibit hall, a 40,000 square foot ballroom, dozens of meeting rooms, and a 350+-room hotel – plus a parking structure to support both the convention center and hotel. It would be offering up city-owned land occupied by the former county courthouse building and the City Hall Annex. The city already budgeted to demolish both of those buildings.

This would put the new convention center right next to Hyatt Regency, which has sometimes served as a de-facto downtown convention center itself. Combined with the new hotel requested in DIA bids, there’d be at least 1,300 hotel rooms in the immediate vicinity of the new convention center – a major factor for events expecting a lot of out-of-towners.

A new, centrally-located convention center with the potential to consistently bring in out-of-town guests would give downtown Jacksonville an injection of activity at a time when it’s most needed. Given that selecting a bid and constructing the center will take years, it’s likely that by then, Shad Khan’s Shipyards vision will also be taking shape – adding new multi-use space down the street.

It’s also likely that Khan’s development will include a Four Seasons hotel, adding even more nearby beds for convention-goers.

And beyond the injection of activity, it would give our local economy a substantial boost. An average convention-goer tends to spend hundreds of dollars a day – and they’d be spending it in the heart of downtown. The potential impact upon local businesses in the downtown area can’t be overstated. The city would also, hopefully, no longer operate a convention center at a loss.

The Prime Osborn, meanwhile, could be redeveloped to complement its future neighbor, the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center.

There are still question marks that remain. It remains to be seen if the city will have to provide funding for the project, and if so, how much – DIA indicated they’re open to it. The plan also relies upon downtown Jax becoming a worthwhile destination – and while we’re getting closer, there’s still plenty of work to be done in that respect.

Still, it’s encouraging to see the city moving forward on modernizing its convention space. And the potential economic development it could bring to downtown Jax is worth getting excited about.