Harry Williams is a pastor who believes in “taking the sanctuary into the streets” so he didn’t hesitate when Mayor Donna Deegan’s office called about using his church in the Eastside neighborhood for a ceremony marking a $300 million community benefits agreement between the city and the Jaguars.
In the Word International Church has been active in the community, also called Out East, by building six homes for a neighborhood that has suffered decades of population drain.
Between the city and the Jaguars, the community benefits agreement will channel $115 million into the Eastside, the historic Black community just north of the sports complex. The city will spend its share over seven years while the Jaguars will contribute over 30 years as part of the biggest community improvement program between any city and NFL team.
After Deegan signed legislation Friday finalizing the city’s contribution, Wilson said he hopes it will bring a surge in affordable homes so Out East residents who want new homes don’t have to move away. And he wants to see successful businesses “on the corner” by adding to what’s already there.
“That would be a beautiful thing — a melting pot where everybody can come, and the people who want to stay in the neighborhood can stay because we don’t want gentrification,” he said.
It’s a tall order for a neighborhood where redevelopment hasn’t tipped the scales yet. A block from the church are homes with big porches that Operation New Hope built with funding from the city back in 2013, illustrating what’s possible. But much of the neighborhood is pockmarked by vacant lots between older wood-frame houses.
Deegan said the community benefits agreement will bring transformational change.
“And especially for the community that we’re standing in right now,” she said in remarks before signing the legislation approved Tuesday by City Council. “A community that has such a storied history, has been through so much and deserves every good thing.”
The Jaguars already have been involved in the Eastside through LIFT Jax, a coalition of companies and non-profit organizations focused on breaking the cycle of poverty in the neighborhood. Team owner Shad Khan was among the first supporters when the Jaguars Foundation gave $1 million to LIFT Jax in 2021 to get it started.
“OutEast has been underserved far too long,” team President Mark Lamping said. “Today’s a great day and a reminder of what can be accomplished if we work together.”
How would the $300 million be divvied up
Lamping said $75 million of the Jaguar’s $150 million commitment will be for Out East. The remaining amount for programs elsewhere will be $15 million for reducing homelessness, $30 million for facilities and programs supporting youth sports, and $30 million for maintenance and programming at downtown riverfront parks on the Northbank.
The community benefits agreement is a side agreement to the $1.4 billion stadium renovation that will be jointly financed by the city and the Jaguars. The completion of the renovation in 2028 will kick off the 30-year lease for the Jaguars to keep playing at the stadium. The team’s spending on the community benefits agreement will likewise take place over 30 years.
On the city’s side of the agreement, it will put $56 million toward construction on three riverfront parks — Riverfront Plaza, Shipyards West and Metropolitan Park — and improvements to the flex field in the sports complex.
The city will spent $40 million over 15 years on countywide programs in the areas of homelessness, affordable housing and workforce development, plus $14 million on park improvements in all 14 City Council districts.
Finally, the city will direct $40 million for the Eastside over the next seven years.
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Done deal: City Council locks in city’s share of agreement with Jaguars for community improvements
The next step for the community benefits agreement will be at the NFL owners meeting in October when the owners also will vote on the stadium deal between the Jaguars and the city.
After that, City Council members will decide on a process for selecting specific programs that will get city funding. City Council member Jimmy Peluso, whose district contains Out East, said Eastside residents will need to be as energized in following through on the programs as they were in making the case to council members for the money.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City and Jaguars join for community benefits agreement ceremony
