Khan's Jacksonville Shipyards Plans Revealed

[downtownbrown]

Right.  So the Hyatt holds trump.  The residents of the Riverwalk Townhomes have what amounts to a permanently sealed entry point for service and emergency vehicles.  Too bad for them.

[KenFSU]

New info on Shipyards remediation:

The $17.5 million in Curry's CIP proposal for 2016-2017 allocated to the Shipyards is for remediation of the submerged portion of the site.

The study earlier this year determined that this is how much it will cost just to clean up the submerged area.

The cost of remediation for the upland portion of the site is still TBD.

Right now, the city is holding $13 million in the coffers specifically for that upland area.

[mtraininjax]

New info on Shipyards remediation: The $17.5 million in Curry's CIP proposal for 2016-2017 allocated to the Shipyards is for remediation of the submerged portion of the site. The study earlier this year determined that this is how much it will cost just to clean up the submerged area. The cost of remediation for the upland portion of the site is still TBD. Right now, the city is holding $13 million in the coffers specifically for that upland area.

With or without the self-promotion of Shad Khan and 100 years of football, that acreage on the river will have something done with it during this administration.

[thelakelander]

Hmm....

Shipyards "not suitable for unrestricted usage"

Full article: http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/shipyards-not-suitable-unrestricted-usage/nnQMz/

[jaxjaguar]

Is this good news or bad news? All three of these issues can be resolved, right?

[acme54321]

Is this good news or bad news? All three of these issues can be resolved, right?

All it takes is money, more money.

[thelakelander]

Do you have to clean it up if you give it back to heavy industry? Could BAE, North Florida Shipyards or another maritime-related entity use the extra space?

[thelakelander]

As opposed to residential and commercial, what about industrial? Would the clean-up process be different and less costly?

[Tacachale]

As opposed to residential and commercial, what about industrial? Would the clean-up process be different and less costly?

If they returned it to industrial the contamination should matter a lot less. It would be an expensive project for that use, though.

[thelakelander]

The Project New Ground situation is a different animal altogether. Regarding the shipyards, I know most prefer a mixed-use development on the site instead of industry, but I find it hard to believe that you can't overcome contamination issues, liabilities and zoning to allow for industrial use.  In the event, the property were used for industry, I'm wondering what type or level of cleanup would be needed and how much would the cost difference be between them?

Where I'm going with this is:

1. Is there a way to reduce the amount of liability and needed investment on the city's part to bring the property back online?

2. If certain uses could be found that reduce the amount of money the city needs to invest in it, while returning it to the tax rolls, perhaps those uses should be further explored?

3. Taking the cash required to make this shipyards dream happen and redistributing it to a mix of projects that will have a greater positive impact on downtown.

Also, there's nothing new under the sun. Most riverfront cities in this country have had a shipyard..or two...or three, close since WWII ended. What type of strategies have they used to put these properties back into use?

[KenFSU]

^Wouldn't this allow some commercial use as well?

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from a contamination standpoint, don't industrial and commercial uses have the same threshold? With more stringent limits for residential?

[thelakelander]

^I'm not sure. I'm hoping someone with a good understanding of dealing with brownfield redevelopment chimes in. I'm interested to see what types of options may be available to the city.

[MEGATRON]

^Wouldn't this allow some commercial use as well?

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from a contamination standpoint, don't industrial and commercial uses have the same threshold? With more stringent limits for residential?

this is generally correct. But, for the most part, proper site planning can make a mixed use project completely doable.

[KenFSU]

^Wouldn't this allow some commercial use as well?

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from a contamination standpoint, don't industrial and commercial uses have the same threshold? With more stringent limits for residential?

this is generally correct. But, for the most part, proper site planning can make a mixed use project completely doable.

So, assuming mixed use, it could conceivably save the city a good deal of money to have a site plan finalized prior to remediation? In that, certain areas could be remediated fully for residential use, while other areas could be brought up to industrial/commercial limits only? Or would that not fly with adjacent property like this?

[finehoe]

How about tracking down the successors of the companies who contaminated it to begin with and make them pay for it.