Landing To Be Razed, Are Taxpayers Screwed?

[thelakelander]

Pretty project. Now lets break things down apples to apples to show you how screwed up things are here:

NYC
2017 City Population: 8,622,698
2017 Metro Population: 20,320,876

Jax
2017 City Population: 892,062
2017 Metro Population: 1,504,980


Jax's city population is roughly 10% of NYC's. Jax's metro population is 7% of NYC's.

NYC Vessel Construction Costs: $200 million
Comparable Jax Construction Cost (7-10% of $200 million): $14 to $20 million.

What this means: Our equivalent is paying $23 million get Sleiman out and demolish the Landing. In other words, NYC gets the Vessel. Jax gets a dirt lot to dream about what could one day be there.

[marcuscnelson]

Jax gets a dirt lot to dream about what could one day be there.

...so we bought lottery tickets?

[Charles Hunter]

Jax gets a dirt lot to dream about what could one day be there.

...so we bought lottery tickets?

Last week's losing lottery tickets ... at a premium

[KenFSU]

Apparently the city is at least considering a Landing replacement that is pure park.

No mixed use or retail component at all.

[thelakelander]

Even a good park costs money that we're not going to spend. If the Landing goes, we're more likely to see a second coming of an underutilized and poorly maintained Metropolitan Park or Friendship Fountain than anything close to resembling a +$100 million Millennium Park.

[Kerry]

That thing isn't handicap accessible

[vicupstate]

City Council commitee votes 6-1 to proceed with the plan to buy out Sleiman and demolish the Landing. Garrett Dennis the lone No vote.

[Todd_Parker]

Apparently the city is at least considering a Landing replacement that is pure park.

No mixed use or retail component at all.

Is there any reason to believe that the Landing lot will become anything other than a park? Perhaps we can use those driver-less clown cars as planters when that system is abandoned in a few years.

[Tacachale]

Apparently the city is at least considering a Landing replacement that is pure park.

No mixed use or retail component at all.

I've been operating on the assumption that that's what it'll be.

[Tacachale]

City Council commitee votes 6-1 to proceed with the plan to buy out Sleiman and demolish the Landing. Garrett Dennis the lone No vote.

This is the same council that rejected the earlier plan to spend $12 million to demolish the Landing and replace it with a mixed-use development. Apparently the problem before was not having enough big grass field.

[Charles Hunter]

If Lenny accepted climate change and rising seas, he might try to sell it as a "floodplain buffer".  But, since those are just hoaxes by the Chinese ...

[thelakelander]

City Council commitee votes 6-1 to proceed with the plan to buy out Sleiman and demolish the Landing. Garrett Dennis the lone No vote.

This is the same council that rejected the earlier plan to spend $12 million to demolish the Landing and replace it with a mixed-use development. Apparently the problem before was not having enough big grass field.

Or the problem is that it was Brown who proposed the $12 million solution and not Curry.  If Curry proposed Brown's deal, everyone would be talking about how great of a deal it was.

[vicupstate]

City Council commitee votes 6-1 to proceed with the plan to buy out Sleiman and demolish the Landing. Garrett Dennis the lone No vote.

This is the same council that rejected the earlier plan to spend $12 million to demolish the Landing and replace it with a mixed-use development. Apparently the problem before was not having enough big grass field.

Or the problem is that it was Brown who proposed the $12 million solution and not Curry.  If Curry proposed Brown's deal, everyone would be talking about how great of a deal it was.

Yep. If it is not an idea from the chosen few, it can't happen. 

[Tacachale]

City Council commitee votes 6-1 to proceed with the plan to buy out Sleiman and demolish the Landing. Garrett Dennis the lone No vote.

This is the same council that rejected the earlier plan to spend $12 million to demolish the Landing and replace it with a mixed-use development. Apparently the problem before was not having enough big grass field.

Or the problem is that it was Brown who proposed the $12 million solution and not Curry.  If Curry proposed Brown's deal, everyone would be talking about how great of a deal it was.

Well, some people would. Both are shit deals. That one was just cheaper and not just field.

[KenFSU]

Not sure if it's been reported, but as part of the settlement with Sleiman, the parking lot east of the Landing is reverting back to city ownership.

This is a seperate parcel from the city-owned Landing property, which we technically owed Sleiman over $5 million with interest for.

When you factor that piece in, the cost of the Landing settlement itself is closer to $10 million.

Certainly doesn't make it any better.

Look for the mayor to continue his WOR* at the Main Street Bridge once the demo is complete in the fall.

*War on Ramps