The Jacksonville City Council approved taxpayer-backed incentive packages for three real estate development projects Tuesday night totaling $3.53 million in cash and $12 million in tax breaks.<\/p>\n
In a 16-0 vote, city lawmakers approved $12 million in city property tax rebates<\/a> to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. for a proposed $550 million investment and expansion of its manufacturing facility at 7500 Centurion Parkway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Council members also signed off on nearly $3.53 million in forgivable and deferred interest loans for a pair of historic restoration projects in the Downtown core \u2014 but with more dissent.<\/p>\n The votes awarding city financing for the renovation of the former Mag\u2019s Cafe building at 231 N. Laura St. and for plans to restore and build out restaurants and retail space at 38 Monroe St. \u2014 both historic properties \u2014 were 14-4 for each deal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The string of incentives packages Tuesday came as the council has been working to fund unbudgeted cash completion grant commitments that had built up to $74 million in 2023. That\u2019s down to about $50 million today, according to council member Will Lahanan.<\/p>\n And as council will face another vote in a few weeks on a $12 million incentives package<\/a> for The Winn-Dixie Co. LLC\u2019s proposed expansion in Jacksonville, which includes a $6.5 million retention grant.<\/p>\n The number has brought some City Council members cash incentives fatigue and started to favor targeted property tax incentives to keep Jacksonville\u2019s market in and outside of Downtown attractive to investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lahnan has been working, along with others on the council and Mayor Donna Deegan\u2019s administration, to find ways to pay for the unfunded completion grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lahnan introduced Ordinance 2026-213, a bill that would direct more money to the outstanding completion grants. It would commit any extra general fund balances above the levels of Sept. 30, 2024, after the city\u2019s operating, emergency and replacement reserves are stable. The bill passed 18-0 on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first-term council member says he had no problem with the financing for the two historic projects. Council previously used those dollars as part of the Downtown Investment Authority\u2019s 205-26 budget. He said the money also came from tax increment financing dollars generated by Downtown property owners, not from the city\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n \u201cThese two loans are something we previously approved, so we can\u2019t just say no on the other end when the appropriation in the contract comes up for these projects,\u201d Lahnan told Jacksonville Today. \u201cThe projects I have the most concern on is when we look at these grants that are simply cash from taxpayers to a developer to make their capital project work on their end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Downtown historic incentives<\/p>\n Council\u2019s move to advance development agreements for two Downtown historic renovations projects will provide $1.907 million in forgivable and deferred interest loans to the former Mags Cafe site at 321 N. Laura St. and $1.62 million for the project at 38-44 W. Monroe St.<\/p>\n According to documents filed with Ordinance 2026-0218, building owner Historic Urban Core LLC plans 2,700 square feet of leasable commercial retail and restaurant space and four one-bedroom apartments on the second floor.<\/p>\n Ordinance 2026-2019 will provide city incentives to Global Solution Partners Inc. to restore the Laura Street property to its historic standards and retrofit it with 2,800 square feet of leasable retail and restaurant space, as well as two one-bedroom apartments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The two projects are the latest round of cash awarded from the DIA\u2019s Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program, created in 2020<\/a> to encourage more developers to renovate dilapidated or vacant historic structures to modern code compliance and put them back into use.<\/p>\n Council members Michael Boylan, Rory Diamond, Terrance Freeman and Mike Gay voted against both bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n Boylan, who has historically voted in favor of such project incentives, said at a council committee meeting April 20 that he didn\u2019t like that the city was absorbing 64% of the projects\u2019 cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n Philip Peterson, deputy City Council auditor, told the committee in April that the incentive was designed for the city to take on a larger financing role so the developer can make restoring historic properties more financially viable.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost never will you be able to bring a historic property into compliance under historic preservation guidelines (at a low cost) due to the amount of money that is required to be invested into a property like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Downtown momentum without incentives?\u00a0<\/p>\n DIA CEO Colin Tarbert told Jacksonville Today in January that the litmus test for weaning or changing how the city incentivizes Downtown development is \u201ccoming sooner than later.\u201d<\/p>\n Council members and the mayor\u2019s office are working to find cash in the city to pay for $44.61 million in completion grants due in the next fiscal year, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record<\/a>, a Jacksonville Today news partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n