J Magazine Fall 2017

SPECIAL
REPORT
‘‘I NEVER TAKE
ANYTHING
OFF THE TABLE, BUT
I DON’T ENVISION A
PUBLIC CONVENTION
CENTER.”
LENNY CURRY
JACKSONVILLE MAYOR
and in conjunction with what — and with whose money and toward
what goals.
Most of those W’s are addressed above, but there are still the
“who” and “whose money” to be answered.
Of three possible answers — public, private or public-private
— the first is the least likely. Heywood Sanders’ cautionary career
is all about publicly funded convention centers, and Steven
E. Spickard, a land-use economist, once wrote: “Contrary to a
popular misconception, convention and conference centers are
designed to lose money. ... It is hard to be absolute because there
are real-world exceptions to virtually every rule; however, even in
the rare cases where revenues cover operating costs in meeting
facilities, they never cover debt service.”
And that’s not how Jacksonville usually rolls. “I never take anything
off the table,” Curry said, “but I don’t envision just a public
convention center.”
He wants to bring in private investment, so a public-private
mix is “the more likely scenario.”
Myrick, the economic-development consultant, has worked
with the founder of such a public-private project, the successful
Cobb Galleria Centre in Georgia, and said, “That’s the right way to
go. The private sector will always do an investment with an ROI.
Government is the only entity that can build something and lose
money on it.”
While the public sector can contribute, perhaps land or some
finance, she said private management always will be able to run a
convention center more efficiently because it can turn down freebie
or cut-rate requests, manage “dark” nights, solicit bookings
that pay more, turn down bookings for small groups.
Curry said he has an open mind. “Public-private would have
to include a return on investment. If you do it right, you’re going
to generate sales tax, bed tax, additional income around the area,
additional property tax. And the return works.”
Curry’s vision for a convention center, presumably on the Bay
Street site, expanded during his July trip to see downtown development
in Kansas City, St. Louis and Baltimore, accompanied by
Jaguars President Mark Lamping representing Shad Khan’s Iguana
Investments.
The mayor saw live examples of the point above about the
essential amenities for a successful convention center. “We’re
already discussing what comes first — the people, the food, the
entertainment, retail. There has to be a holistic commitment to
all of those on the front end. This is a model that has worked in all
those places.
“Our river is our asset that we’re so proud of. We want to see
the right development on the river. That also ties into when you
move off the river. It all has to connect in a smart way.”
So more Downtown development off the river, more than just
the Shipyards? “I would say yes. I think so. Based on what I saw.
Iguana will make those decisions. We were there together.”
He’s already thinking about transportation along a suddenly
booming Bay Street. “How do you move people, if there’s a convention
center, to the Sports Complex and from farther west, the
Landing? That will be part of the discussions.”
Okay, now are you getting excited about the first swing of that
wrecking ball on Bay Street?
Frank Denton was editor of The Florida Times-Union in
2008-16 and now is editor at large. He lives in Avondale.