Greetings from The Jacksonville Landing

Captain Zissou · November 17, 2009, 11:30:12 AM

Are there plans to do anything with the area that will no longer contain the Andrew Jackson statue???

fsu813 · November 17, 2009, 12:49:53 PM

What! where is the statue going?

fsujax · November 17, 2009, 01:44:14 PM

^^the intersection of Laura St and Independent Dr.

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 03:29:30 PM

Wacca Pilatka:
Honestly it is always awesome to hear from someone that really recognizes what The Landing is trying to be for the people of Jacksonville and Northeast Florida.
About the Jaguars: let me be perfectly honest in saying that home games have been a struggle for us. By the time you go down to a game, park, eat and drink, you have probably already spent a ton of money. Going out after a game is most likely not on your "to-do" list. In addition to that, add in the fact that they make it pretty impossible to return to The Landing after a game with the way they direct traffic. In the past we have tried to sponsor the boat rides (thinking that would encourage people to begin and end their Jaguars home game fun here) and we've tried to market how parking near The Landing is so much less expensive than at the stadium. It almost seems that even though we have tried, this continues to be a hard battle to win.
Nevertheless, we realize the importance of The Jaguars. Only 32 cities are lucky enough to have an NFL team. Having a pro football team puts our city on the map, and for that reason - we succeed. So this year we began our "Show Your Teal & Spin the Wheel" promotion to help the Jags promote the Friday before a home game. If you wear Teal to The Landing during lunch the Friday before a home game, you get to spin the wheel and win free prizes! It's been fun and I am sure it has driven some traffic to our merchants (but we have noticed a lot of people come here just for something free and never spend any money with our merchants).
Anyway - I am just happy you are a fan and that you recognize all the work we are doing!
Now - on to your question. YES! It just so happens that Stephen and I did discuss the fish market yesterday! I brought it up at our internal meeting today and we also recognize that it would be a great possibility if we could figure out how to control the smell so that it wouldn't negatively affect existing Landing merchants. Would this be a good fit for the west end once the statue is moved?

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 03:59:45 PM

Captain Zissou: First let me say that my husband is in love with the movie The Life Aquatic. Fun!

We have tossed around a lot of ideas relating to the West end. Just in case you don't know, the reason why it is as vacant is because that area was supposed to be one of two parking garages Toney was planning to build on this property. That parking garage would have serviced both The Landing and the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts with covered parking and a covered walkway to the Theatre. Around Super Bowl time, there was so much interest from businesses that wanted to move in here, but Toney didn't want those spaces leased because he needed those spaces to build his parking. It's so sad because now we all know that the decision was made to not sell the land to Toney and so a parking garage still does not exist. What is even worse is that at one time, we could have filled all of these empty spaces with retail tenants.
Again - a true public private partnership is the key. Did you all see what Kansas City just recently did? Well - we can bet that it wasn't because of nasty politics and going back on your word.

As soon as we have an update on that area - I will let you know!

Shwaz · November 17, 2009, 04:10:09 PM

Speaking of smells... what's up with methane odor that seems to hang around the first floor of Landing near the escalators? I've been on multiple occasions and have heard people complaining even outside.

Is this a sewage problem or maybe river water problem?

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 04:20:17 PM

Hey Shwaz,
Are you talking about inside the building or in the Courtyard area near the fountain? Because we are so close to the water, the wind will carry different smells including scents from the Maxwell House plant and the river. It almost makes me wish we had a carmel factory in d-town jax.

If you are smelling a strong gas smell though, that would alarm me and is something we need to know very soon. We would not want anyone in danger.

thelakelander · November 17, 2009, 04:21:42 PM

Did the Landing have representatives go on the Kansas City trip?

QuoteLake, I cant seem to visualize where Rachel is talking about, can you point it out?

The green area at the corner of Hogan and Independent Drive. The area where the Jackson statue sits today.

KenFSU · November 17, 2009, 04:24:46 PM

Will the Christmas tree be artificial like last year, or a real tree likes years past?

Overstreet · November 17, 2009, 04:32:38 PM

Quote from: JaxLanding on November 17, 2009, 03:29:30 PM................ YES! It just so happens that Stephen and I did discuss the fish market yesterday! I brought it up at our internal meeting today and we also recognize that it would be a great possibility if we could figure out how to control the smell so that it wouldn't negatively affect existing Landing merchants. ............

If inside you would need to set up the HVAC system with makup air at the entrance and exhaust out the back to get air flow away from the rest of the mall. It would need a lot of air changes. Doors that were normally closed would help. Its own entrance to the outside would help. They would need to keep things iced of course, but there is always some odor.

The garbage it produces is particularly potent and deserves a refrigerated storage and frequent pick up. You would not want it lingering in the service corridor. There are off the shelf walk in boxes for this. We often install them in high end restaurants, usually outside.

Shwaz · November 17, 2009, 05:24:32 PM

Quote from: JaxLanding on November 17, 2009, 04:20:17 PM
Hey Shwaz,
Are you talking about inside the building or in the Courtyard area near the fountain? Because we are so close to the water, the wind will carry different smells including scents from the Maxwell House plant and the river. It almost makes me wish we had a carmel factory in d-town jax.

If you are smelling a strong gas smell though, that would alarm me and is something we need to know very soon. We would not want anyone in danger.

The smell is mostly inside near the doors to the courtyard. It smells like a methane or sewage type odor. It was so strong a few times I was there I'm surprised it hasn't come up before.

vicupstate · November 17, 2009, 05:26:46 PM

Welcome to the site JaxLanding. It is great to get news regarding the Landing from 'the source', as it frequently is a topic in the forums.

Question: Is the potential Peterbrooke deal still a possibility or not? I remember long ago when the fudge place was a tenant. It seemed quite popular back in the day. I personally can't think of a better location for something like Peterbrooke. It is a local company that could showcase itself in the 'living room' of Jacksonville (The Landing), which itself is locally owned.

One other question: Does the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) seem to help pull in business to the Landing?

Once the campaign for the 2011 mayoral race is well underway, I would like to see the MetroJax board question the candidates as to their willingness to selling the land underneath the Landing. I'm tired of seeing the wasted potential of downtown in general, and the Landing in particular. Downtown should be the showplace of Jacksonville, and the Landing/Laura St. corridor it's centerpiece. If the next mayor-to-be does not share that vision, they would not get my support.

tufsu1 · November 17, 2009, 08:59:29 PM

Another charrette on re-imagining the Landing was conducted as part of the APA Florida conference that was held in Jacksonville in September....the results of the charrette will be presented to Toney Sleiman and Landing staff at a luncheon this Friday....from what I understand, a T-U reporter will be coming to the luncheon as well, so stay tuned for an article on the results

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 09:00:45 PM

thelakelander:
No, we did not have reps go on this particular Chamber trip, but Toney has gone on them before. We are familiar with the findings in Kansas City as a result of our relationships with other downtown groups such as Downtown Vision. The more we hear of what they learned on the trip, the more I wish we had been able to attend for sure!

KenFSU:
We will be using the artificial tree that we introduced last year. Were you able to see it? It is really nice because we use L.E.D. lights (more than 78,000 of them) which saves our electric usage by 80%. And the tree is a show of its own. Every hour, on the hour beginning at 6pm, the tree performs a 10 min. synchronized light show set to holiday music selections. There are three rotating shows, so the 6pm show is different than the 7pm show and the 8pm show. Then it repeats: the 9pm show is the one that played at 6pm. Those shows will continue throughout the holiday season and is really a nice option for families during the holidays. You can grab a bite to eat and then watch the free tree show!

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 09:02:43 PM

Shwaz:
Hmm...thanks for the heads up. I'll check it out tomorrow and have HVAC investigate, too.