JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – City records show that developers of a potential Hard Rock Hotel on the Downtown Northbank presented the city with two versions of financial models for the project, one containing publicly funded incentives of nearly $70 million and the other with more than $40 million.
The hotel and condominium is proposed on a 2.02-acre property at 500 E. Bay St., the site of the demolished Berkman II condominium along the St. Johns River. It is across the street from the Police Memorial Building and Duval County Jail.
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Representatives for the development, code-named Project Revival in the documents, sent the city the first model for it on Aug. 5 that included $69.26 million in tax breaks over 25 years.
Two weeks later, the developers presented the second model containing a $40.13 million incentive for the project, which includes 350 hotel rooms and 150 condominiums.
The construction cost was listed at $260.87 million in both models, with a land purchase price of $8.5 million in both.
Jacksonville Chief Communications Officer Phil Perry said the city had reviewed the models, but had not committed to offering any incentives. He said the Downtown Investment Authority was still in the fact-finding stage of analyzing the project.
“It’s too preliminary to suggest what an incentive package, if any, might look like,” Perry wrote in an email.
The city announced in July that it was talking with several developers interested in the property, including a group proposing a project that could potentially be a Hard Rock Hotel.
The owner and developers
The property is owned by Curtis D. Hodgson of Addison, Texas, who bought it July 18 for $7.3 million.
Also July 18, Hodgson entered into an exclusive option agreement for the property with Florida Innovation Capital 500 E Bay Street Parent LLC of Jacksonville.
On its website, floridainnovationcapital.com, Florida Innovation Capital describes itself as “a private equity fund that empowers visionaries with the capital, network, and guidance needed to drive innovation in Florida and beyond.
Hodgson said he was not involved in any development plans for the property.
“I’m just the money man,” he said. “I’m holding it until they get their ducks in a row.”
Project Revival records show that representatives from the DIA and Deegan’s executive office have met with a development team headed by Michael Munz, the founder and CEO of Florida Innovation Capital, and that includes Jacksonville consultant Jim Gilmore, a partner in the group.
Representatives for developers included those from two investment firms – FIC and Pan American Finance – as well as the Southern Group, a lobbying firm.
City representatives included DIA CEO Colin Tarbert; Deegan’s chief of staff, Mike Weinstein; and Steve Kelley, DIA director of Downtown real estate and development.
Munz said Nov. 6 his group’s project was at “the very, very beginning,” and declined to confirm if it was a Hard Rock Hotel.
“To be able to give any more detail than that is really impossible,” he said. “It’s very early stages, is the best way to describe it.”
In June, the Daily Record was given a copy of an investor presentation by FIC for a riverfront development matching the details in the city records. In the presentation, the group said it had a signed letter of intent “with an iconic global hotel and entertainment brand in April 2025, confirming the Franchisor’s commitment to partnering with FIC in Jacksonville.”
In that presentation, partners in FIC were identified as Munz; Gilmore; state Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville; and Ed Miller, whose title was listed as senior managing partner of Pan American Finance; Nicholas Danton, FIC chief investment officer; Tim Stokes, FIC chief operating officer; and general partners Gwen Griggs and Whitney Harper.
Duggan said Nov. 6 he is not an investor in the project but rather is serving as the group’s legal counsel through the Rogers Towers law firm, in which he is an attorney and shareholder.
Revenue, expenses and tax breaks
The documents prepared by developers and reviewed by city officials included detailed models of the development’s expected revenue and expenses, along with potential tax breaks.
One page of a spreadsheet sent to the city Aug. 5 and titled “TAX ESTIMATE–Needs Update,” included details for a 25-year, 75% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant totaling $69.26 million.
On Aug. 19, the developers sent a new spreadsheet with the same title but including a 20-year, 75% REV grant totaling $40.13 million.
A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement. It can apply to property and tangible personal property.
Besides the time span of the grants, differences in the two models included that the first was based on a 3% growth assumption in project’s value, while the second was factored on a 2% growth assumption.
At the higher growth rate, the property would generate more incremental tax revenue over the span of the grant. Incremental tax revenue is the increased amount of taxes a property improvement generates over the amount it would have produced if left unimproved.
The first version of the spreadsheet listed incremental tax revenue at $114.13 million, the second at $53.51 million.
Perry said the incentive figures came from the project’s developers. City officials have reviewed them, he said, but had not extended any offers of tax incentives.
In response to previous media inquiries, Perry said the Hard Rock Hotel project would not include a casino.
The partially built Berkman II was demolished in March 2022, nearly 15 years after construction was halted after the parking garage for the building collapsed, killing one worker and injuring others.
The lot remains empty.