Clayton Freeman

cfreeman@jacksonville.com

The score struck 18-0 at 6:54 p.m., but for Nathan Walter, the finish couldn't have been more exciting.

"This is rewarding... this is not just two hours tonight," the Jacksonville Armada president said. "This has been more than a year now that we've worked to get to this point."

The City Council unanimously approved Tuesday a land-option agreement that clears the way for the Jacksonville Armada to pursue a soccer-specific stadium less than a mile north of the downtown sports complex.

The team's hope: On that property, a 5.83-acre plot north of the Fairgrounds to the east of A. Philip Randolph Boulevard, the Armada could someday play in a still-to-be-constructed stadium of its own.

The land is bordered by A. Philip Randolph, Georgia Street, Albert Street and Grant Street, with an additional 0.83-acre strip just north of the expressway from the Mathews Bridge added via amendment.

All 18 voting members of the council backed the measure, 2019-0853, which last week cleared committees by votes of 6-0 and 5-0.

Under the deal, RP Sports Investments, headed by Armada owner Robert Palmer, can enter the agreement for $5,000. RP Sports would then have the option to close on the land for a nominal cost of $1.

"It's the next hurdle to bringing professional soccer back," Walter said. "We got over it, and we're one step closer to reemerging."

The deal would still require approval from the athletic departments of Florida and Georgia. The land is currently used as Lots XX and Y for TIAA Bank Field, and development would affect parking for the Florida-Georgia game.

Any move downtown would still be years away.

Walter said the site must still undergo rezoning, a process he expects to last more than six months.

Walter said he isn't ready to name a developer for the project, but he said Palmer wants a local firm to be involved.

The project, Walter has said, will be built with private funds. He did say, however, that the club would ask the city about what he termed "basic incentives."

He also said the Armada would seek to amend the boundaries of the Sports and Entertainment District to encompass the site.

Still, for the Armada, which has had three home venues (the Baseball Grounds in 2015 and 2016, the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium in 2017 and 2018, and most recently Patton Park), the vote brings much-needed good news and a chance to come full circle.

The Armada first kicked off downtown and drew more than 16,000 fans to EverBank Field for its April 2015 debut against FC Edmonton, a match remembered for Jemal Johnson's league-record goal after only 12 seconds. Since then, though, the club has endured a turbulent trip.

The NASL stopped play — the league has not kicked a ball since the end of 2017 amid bitter and still-simmering legal quarrels with the United States Soccer Federation, which removed the league's Division II sanctioning that year — beginning a chain of events that sent the Armada into the fourth-level and largely amateur National Premier Soccer League. The club's crowds have diminished as well to fewer than 1,000.

Now, finally, Walter is hopeful the Armada has a safe harbor in view, one where the club can find long-term stability and reinvigorate professional soccer on the First Coast.

"The past two, three years have been the darkest," Walter said. "We don't want to be back here again."

Upon closing, the stadium would have to be "substantially completed" by July 31, 2025, or RP Sports would have to pay the full value for the land.

In addition to the stadium, which would have a minimum of 2,500 seats but could be further expanded, the deal also calls for RP Sports to develop at least 25,000 square feet of office space and 100 parking spots.

Walter said the Armada plans to begin laying a foundation for neighborhood support on the Eastside. He said the club will hold free soccer clinics over the summer at a location to be determined.

If completed, Walter said, the stadium could host events other than just Armada games. He noted a possibility of scheduling a Florida-Georgia soccer match at the venue to accompany the Florida-Georgia football weekend.

Much work remains, but for Walter, the club now has something to aim for.

"There's multiple things that we've still got to work out," Walter said. "This enabled us to stand still and say, 'You know what, we have something here, a project we can viably work on.'"