The wait for getting a taste of the Four Seasons brand of five-star accommodations in downtown Jacksonville could take at least one more season’s worth of construction than previously expected.
The city extended the deadline for completion of the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Jacksonville by six months to the end of December 2026.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s construction of the luxury hotel and condominiums is making progress and the development will actually end up costing more because of upgrades to the interior, Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said.
Boyer granted the extension on June 18 using a provision in the development agreement between the city and the Khan family’s Iguana Investments Florida.
“Their cost of construction has gone up and they are adding substantially to their interior finish,” she said. “It’s a project upgrade in some ways that is causing it to take more time.”
While the extension will push back the grand opening date, it will give Mayor Donna Deegan and City Council some short-term breathing space in next year’s budget because the city agreed in 2021 to pay a $25.8 million completion grant to Iguana when the Four Seasons is finished.
The extension means the payment of the competition grant won’t come due in the 2025-26 budget but instead will be payable in the following fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2026.
The Four Seasons Hotel and Residences will contain a five-star hotel with 170 rooms and a luxury condominium building with 26 private residences. It will be the second Four Seasons hotel owned by Khan, who also owns the Four Seasons hotel in Toronto.
The city approved a development agreement in 2021 and later amended the agreement in 2023 that set the then-deadline of June 30, 2026. The agreement requires minimum private capital investment for the hotel, residences and office building totaling $387.6 million, up from $301 million in the original agreement.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: A six-month extension will set deadline for completing Four Seasons Hotel in December 2026
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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