The city moves to terminate the Landing's lease agreement.

[jlmann]

^
good to know.  though these thoughts are only natural given, well, Jacksonville

[Steve]

Business Journal is reporting that COJ is evicting JLI (Jacksonville Landing Investments), Sleiman's org division at the landing....

[heights unknown]

WOW!!! Should I recant on moving to Jax? City government under Curry seems dirty and conniving. Wow.

[KenFSU]

So the city is officially moving forward with plans to take it to court and try to get Sleiman evicted. And the more I read about it, the more it blows my mind.

Per the T-U today:

The fate of the Jacksonville Landing will be decided in state court after the city filed a fresh claim seeking to evict the Sleiman family from the downtown mall so the city can take possession of the copper-topped buildings.

Among the arguments made by the city is that Jacksonville Landing Investments has failed to uphold the lease agreement's requirement for the Landing to be "at or above the prevailing level of quality" in place at The Gallery at Market Street East in Philadelphia, Harborplace in Baltimore, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, and Santa Monica Place in California.

Sleiman's main bone of contention is that the city never provided the 800 dedicated spaces required in the lease for the Landing, preventing him from bringing in the types of high-quality tenets the city is attempting to evict him for not having.

Does the city not expect ANYONE involved in the case to do a detailed forensic analysis (i.e. a ten-second Google search) of the parking situation at these four facilities mentioned in the lawsuit that we expect the Landing to be at or above?

Gallery at Market Street East - Autopark at Gallery Mall (850 spots); open 6 AM to midnight

Harborplace - Harborpark Garage (1,300 spots) and Inner Harbor Garage (800 spots); open 24/7

Faneuil Hall Marketplace - 75 State Street Garage (900 spots); open 24/7

Santa Monica Place - Structures 7 (820 spots) and 8 (1,040 spots); open 24/7

All four spots have official garages, open at or near 24 hours a day.

Doesn't anybody think this is something that might, you know, come up in court?

Literally all Sleiman needs to do is show up in court with a list of parking requirements for a handful of "first-class retailers," and it should be case closed, while opening the city up to a potential civil suit for 15 years of damages.

Though interestingly, per the lease, if the city were to win its case against Sleiman, he'd lose the entire Landing outright. His buildings would belong to the city, and we wouldn't owe him a dime.

Again, prisoners dilemma. Both sides have everything to lose by taking this to court.

The most logical, responsible action by all parties involved is to sit down and settle this thing like adults.

[jaxjaguar]

Why is everyone suddenly on Sleimans side? Did everyone forget about the huge garage across the street and the lot that extends under the main Street bridge to the Hyatt? The landing wasn't getting close to filling up those spaces aside from major event days (New year's, Florida Georgia, etc), so why would the city build another garage when the newest one across the street and the lot connected to the landing aren't consistently filled up??
Sleiman didn't do jack to the Landing to improve it the entire time he owned it, aside from installing the outdated video board in the courtyard. He expected to have a cash cow that he could just sit on and do the bare minimum to because of the location. Unfortunately, for us and him this site and downtown in general needs a LOT of love. Whoever takes over the space needs to be willing to pump in the upper tens of millions into it without much help from the city. It also needs someone with a clear vision and the drive to maintain it. Sleiman is not that person. His submitted solution is nothing more than a glorified South side apartment complex, which is not what that space needs.

[thelakelander]

The garage across the street is for Suntrust. Parked in there a few weeks back and had to park on the top floor. The rest of the thing was literally dedicated parking for Suntrust tenants. Hell I'm not sure the Landing would match Rouse's top centers even if it had dedicated parking the city never delivered on. Downtown Jax can't support them. That dream sailed away long before Sleiman arrived on the scene. Also, a few of those centers also ended up in decline as retail and consumer trends changed over the last few decades. Gallery at Market St was crap last time I was in Philly and Harborplace is like on its second or third makeover. There is a logical way out of this mess but this is Jax. You'll drive yourself crazy believing these guys will sit down and work out their differences over a beer.

[jagsonville]

The landing is a dump and embarrassment. Sleiman hasn't invested a dime in it in 15 years of ownership. He has presented a couple bland plans looking for large government incentives and far fetched demands like removing Main Street bridge ramps. I think he has been using the ridiculously long land lease terms to force the city's hand but Curry isn't playing those games. Hurricane Irma excuses are lame and Sleiman knew upon purchasing the landing in 2003 that no garage plans were in place. The way I see the judgement is like this: no garage/no property tax payments equals a wash but a crappy run down facility/dock repairs favoring the city since the place has been a dump far longer than the effects of Irma. I would love for curry and sleiman to sit down like big boys and work things out but a final judgement is in the best interest of Jacksonville. We either get someone else to do something positive with the landing or Sleiman gets his garage and hopefully stipulations to improve the landing afterwards.

[KenFSU]

Why would the city build another garage when the newest one across the street and the lot connected to the landing aren't consistently filled up??

Because Jacksonville is legally obligated to do so. Specifically, as a condition of Rouse building and operating the Landing, the city contractually agreed to provide an 800-space, dedicated parking garage to the Landing, opened and staffed from at least 7:00 AM until at least 1:00 AM. The same lease, with the same legal requirements, was transferred fully intact to Toney Sleiman in 2003. 15 years later, the city is still in violation of that contract, and the Landing still has only 240 dedicated parking spots. It's open and shut, there are zero shades of grey here. Whether the Landing needs it or doesn't need, or could fill it or couldn't fill it, is totally immaterial. The lease is the lease.

Whoever takes over the space needs to be willing to pump in the upper tens of millions into it without much help from the city.

As long as the city owns the land and refuses to sell, this expectation is unrealistic, and there will always need to be a public/private partnership.

Hurricane Irma excuses are lame and Sleiman knew upon purchasing the landing in 2003 that no garage plans were in place.

The city, not Sleiman, is the one using the hurricane (Matthew, not Irma) as an excuse as to why the Landing's docks have been crumbled and floating in the St. Johns River since 2016.

And absolutely untrue about Sleiman knowing when he purchased the Landing in 2003 that no garage plans were in place. He's been beating the parking drum since day one. Parking was a condition of the lease that he took over, and the city pumped him full of promises about figuring it out.

Sleiman was so convinced that parking was the missing component at the Landing that he was even willing to partner with the city to help them fulfill their parking obligation.

Here he is, in 2003, via the Jax Business Journal, before purchasing the Landing:

Local developer Toney Sleiman clarified his plans for The Jacksonville Landing today, announcing his company's intention to buy the area's land from the city and stressing the need for more Downtown parking and a close relationship with the city as linchpins for the project's success.

At a Florida Public Relations Association event, Sleiman and business partner Mike Tolbert said they want to have a "hands-on, local, aggressive approach" to the development, saying direct ownership of the land around and beneath the Landing itself, which Sleiman already owns, is a key to achieving that goal.

Sleiman said next year he also plans to make external improvements to many of the city's aging parking garages and is in the process of getting a permit to build transient marina facilities at the festival marketplace.

Landing redevelopment will happen in three phases, Sleiman said, with the first due to begin in March, if Jacksonville City Council approves the plans and to be completed by the Super Bowl in 2005. While Sleiman and Tolbert would not comment on which retailers might be occupying space in the remodeled building, they suggested that top-line restaurants are at the top of their list.

But parking, they stressed, was a concern, referring to a recent core-Downtown study suggesting the area was short 4,500 parking spaces.

Shortly after purchasing the Landing, via the Daily Record:

"You can make downtown successful with parking," said Sleiman. "Parking is very important. It's the key, not just for the Landing but for all of downtown."

After a short presentation and a minimum of discussion, the JEDC unanimously approved Sleiman Enterprises as a "qualified rental operator," a required step before the company can take over management of the Landing.

"We're going to do a lot," said Sleiman, a principal and developer with the company. "We're going to turn it around."

"I'm dead serious," said Sleiman. "I'm going to change it. We're brewing with excitement over this project."

If an executive wants to move his business downtown, Sleiman said, he may be ready to close the deal until he learns parking for his employees is "four blocks down and three blocks over. Then he goes back to the suburbs."

Parking is available, he said. The lot at the Humana building, land on the east side between the bridge and the Daniels Building, space between the T-U Center and the Landing. There's also some space in the service area of the Landing.

"If you look at the big lot next to the Humana building, let's make it happen somehow," said Sleiman. "Private-public partnership, get everybody downtown involved. Let's do a 3,000-4,000 space parking lot downtown."

But the city never followed through on their obligation, nearly giving Sleiman the Landing property and the adjacent Hogan Street corridor in 2005 in return for defaulting:

City reaches deal with Landing owner

By GREGORY RICHARDS
The Times-Union

Jacksonville and the owner of The Jacksonville Landing have made a deal allowing plans to redevelop the downtown mall to proceed, according to a top city official.

"We've reached an agreement in principle," Susie Wiles, spokesman for Mayor John Peyton, said of the city and developer Toney Sleiman.

Through the deal, Sleiman would acquire the property the Landing currently rests on, which is now leased from the city. Sleiman would also acquire two other pieces of property:

The parking lot east of the Landing, between the mall and the Adam's Mark hotel.

The land west of the Landing, between the mall and the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. This will require the closing of Hogan Street south of Water Street.

In exchange for the land, the city would be relieved of debt owed to Sleiman for not providing additional parking to the Landing, per prior agreement. No cash will be changing hands, Wiles said.

The city backed out of that deal, attempted to work out a three-way parking deal with Cameron Kuhn before the River Watch Tower went belly up, and by 2009, Sleiman was still practically begging for the parking required in the original lease and complaining about lost tenets as a result:

Sleiman: A man with a plan for The Jacksonville Landing

Jacksonville Landing owner Toney Sleiman is convinced that many of the challenges facing the venue could be eliminated with improved parking, and its an obstacle he's determined to overcome.

When Sleiman's company, Sleiman Enterprises Inc., bought the Rouse Co.-developed property for $5.1 million in 2003, he had plans to transform it. HIs $250 million plan included expanding the existing retail and entertainment space to 1 million square feet, adding a parking garage, a boutique hotel, an office building and condominiums on the west side of the Main Street bridge and another commercial building and a parking garage on the east side of the bridge that is now the site of The Landing's 260-space parking lot.

Sleiman maintains that the city has not fulfilled a parking obligation first made before the Landing even opened, and amended on numerous occasions.

Despite the challenges the Landing has faced, Sleiman has no regrets about buying the facility and does not intend to sell it. He still hopes to fulfill his original plans one day, but he's reworking his vision, while maintaining one of his original goals to create more parking.

Sleiman also wants to remove the white coquina façade on the west side of the building and create entries directly into the center from the street level. He's also negotiating with several national chain restaurants to move into the Landing, but those deals are contingent on Sleiman creating more parking.

It's not a new pattern, or a new excuse by Sleiman to cover his ass for the lack of current success for the Landing. His story and demands haven't changed. Partner with him on the garage in the lease, or sell him the land.

Did we make a mistake agreeing to partner with him on the Landing in 2003? Also immaterial, we're locked into a lease with him for another 40 years.

We gotta find a way to make it work.

There's such a long paper trail that I just don't see how the city thinks they can win this thing in court.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

There's such a long paper trail that I just don't see how the city thinks they can win this thing in court.

[puts on tinfoil hat]

The city doesn't want to 'win' in court. 

Step 1:  Tie this property up in litigation.  This isn't a win-case, it's a keep it in court for the foreseeable future case.
Step 2:  Use the bad press on Toney Sleiman to help support funding for Khan and his ideas by the stadium.
Step 3:  After shovels are in the dirt for Khan, then pull Sleiman's largest, most iconic tenant by offering them a better space with better terms
Step 4:  Curry pulls muscle while patting himself on the back for developing "downtown" as he exits office.

[jaxjaguar]

^largest most iconic tenant... Aside from Hooters & Finn McCools, I don't think any of them are "iconic". Sadly even the tenants in the landing are the places that attract trashiness. I don't see Khan/Lamping being interested in any of them aside from maaaaybe Mavericks for smaller scale concerts/events that daily place is too big for.

Either way I kind of agree with your tinfoil theory. Make Tony look bad while development by the stadium steals his final remaining customers forcing him to give up the landing to save his wallet.

[Adam White]

The solution, clearly, is to redevelop the site as a BBQ sauce factory/bottling plant. Maybe the CoJ can help out with funding it.

[Snaketoz]

The solution, clearly, is to redevelop the site as a BBQ sauce factory/bottling plant. Maybe the CoJ can help out with funding it.

Tony Sleiman needs to be elected to city council, get on the finance committee, and problem solved.

[Adam White]

The solution, clearly, is to redevelop the site as a BBQ sauce factory/bottling plant. Maybe the CoJ can help out with funding it.

Tony Sleiman needs to be elected to city council, get on the finance committee, and problem solved.

I knew it seemed too easy.

[thelakelander]

COJ isn't bankrupting Sleiman with these suits.

[BenderRodriguez]

In all honesty, what's stopping the city from just building the freaking parking garage and seeing what Sleiman actually does? We make the money on the property regardless. What's stopping anyone from greenlighting it at this point? It's right there in the building agreement. We've spent more going Dutch on Daily's Place and the Video boards. Surely a paltry $2-$3mil on a barely minimum 600-spot parking deck can be squeezed into the budget somewhere. Right? Put it right next to the skyway and give it its very own stop. That way they can also put those god-awful autonomous people-movers in play.