VIA The Daily Record: A conversation with Landing owner Toney Sleiman

[JaxLanding]

Article printed in the December 4, 2009 edition.
http://tinyurl.com/ycatre5

[Steve]

One of the things we are working on from the retail side is getting a smaller scale Dollar Store concept.

Really?

[fsu813]

He seems to "get it" more or less.

Though I would have loved to hear Peterbrooke a lot more than Dollar Store.

[vicupstate]

I think he 'gets it' completely.  I'm ok with a Dollar General as long as it is the exception and not the rule.

Reading this article, I was thinking to myself, THIS guy needs to be the mayor. 

A convention center on the river, a Landing we can be proud of, a genuine atraction DT, someone who understands BUSINESS. Sounds like a good resume to me. 

Sleiman 2011!

[thirdeye]

Sleiman "get's it?"  What does he get? A dollar store at the Landing? Way to go!

We can thank the Sleimans for all of the pink strip malls that cover this city and empty spaces in Murray Hill for example.
They treat their tenants like crap, and have fought downtown development because of their parking issues at the landing.

Read link below to see how they operate.

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011506/bus_20813513.shtml

Can't stand landlords and businessmen like them and what they have done to this city.

[vicupstate]

How has he fought downtown development ?  Strip malls are largely the only things that current zoning laws allow outside of the urban core.  He seems like a man of action, which is what we don't currently have. 

[Ocklawaha]

Well Toney, let's sit down and chat... We need to find a way to tie the landing into our Vintage Streetcar Project and/or the Skyway.

Did you know for example that EVERY SINGLE streetcar project in the USA, since 1980, has returned from $5.00 to $1,200 dollars in new investment for every dollar spent? TRUE.

Attraction? Did you know that Model Railroading, Train Spotting, Streetcar Riding, Photography etc. make up one of the largest leasure hobby's in the World? What child has said, "I don't want to ride a train or a tram?" Virtually none. A city filled with REAL streetcars, a restoration shop and museum, as well as vintage period buses would be a real version of Disney's Main St USA. The Skyway to at least Berkman/Convention Center/Hyatt could add a certain Buck Rogers/Star Trek element. On the downtown it would always be 1925 at street level, and 2525 above the streets, a one-two combo that no other city could touch.

Add your Aquarium (Jake's Idea) and the new convention center and we'd have a blowtorch of a downtown engine driving our city.

A dollar store is a great idea BTW, ever try and buy toilet paper downtown? picnic plates? charcoal? flashlights? This is a huge hole in our downtown retail, and while tiny shops like the Omni or Hyatt, are convenient but far too pricey for the local residents. Great idea and a real need.

OCKLAWAHA

[buckethead]

What I know of the guy is that he got the Landing for a song and a dance. He also benefited from an eminent domain confiscation/sale of private property in Jax Beach. Right at the foot of JTB. Perhaps I don't know the whole story, so I am trying to be fair, but these types of deals reek of good ole boy insider shenanagins.

[thelakelander]

I'm interested to see how he has fought DT development as well.  That's news to me.

As for buying the Landing, everyone had the chance.  Rouse wanted out.  You can'y fault him for Rouse selling it as cheap as peanuts to get out of Jax.

[buckethead]

I'm interested to see how he has fought DT development as well.  That's news to me.

As for buying the Landing, everyone had the chance.  Rouse wanted out.  You can't fault him for Rouse selling it as cheap as peanuts to get out of Jax.

Another consideration I was unaware of at the time is the fact that the property the Landing sits on is not owned, but leased.

I could just as easily be falling prey to shoddy journalism or outright ingorance on my part.

[whitey]

I wonder if there is enough room to build a Dadeland Station (vertical shopping development in Miami) style building on the old Riverwatch parcel across from the Landing.  A movie theater complex/more restaurants with parking garage would do wonders for that area.  I don't think that lot is nearly large enough though unless someone were able to get very creative.

[thelakelander]

FROM buckethead:
Another consideration I was unaware of at the time is the fact that the property the Landing sits on is not owned, but leased.

I could just as easily be falling prey to shoddy journalism or outright ingorance on my part.

You're right.   Sleiman owns the buildings while the city owns the land.  Until the city sells the land, which it refuses to do, you probably won't see Sleiman invest a large amount of money on the renovation of the complex.

[DavidWilliams]

Lake, what do you consider to be the biggest obstacle in the city not selling? I have no inside info on any of this and am just curious.

[thelakelander]

Local politics.  My guess is that they just don't want to sell. Unfortunately, until these two (Sleiman and the city) can work together, the site's potential will be limited and DT will suffer as a result.

[Keith-N-Jax]

You can say this sums up the story of Jacksonville and why downtown has not progressed as other cities its size and smaller.