Landing bill moves forward without preservation funds, but mayor may veto

[hanjin1]

I went to a Legal Seafood in Atlanta. It was real good, though you did need to spend a little more cash than you would at St. Johns Seafood.

[fieldafm]

Still getting over celebratory parties last night...


Legal Seafood is a pretty good seafood chain(as chains go)... similar price points as a Mitchells Fish Market.  Legal Seafood actually sells a cookbook with their recipes too.

I wouldn't get too wrapped up in speculating about Legal Seafood as a potential tenant though.

[thelakelander]

Littlepage gets it.

In another unanimous vote, the council took the final step in ending a dispute that has lasted for more than 20 years - how to meet the city's obligation to provide parking for the Jacksonville Landing.

The Landing's owner, Toney Sleiman, has been arguing ever since he bought the downtown landmark that he needed the promised parking to attract the nationally known restaurant and entertainment chains that would bring customers to the Landing and make it a success.

With this deal, Sleiman gets $3.5 million from the city to purchase a surface lot at the corner of Bay and Hogan streets. The 300 parking spaces there will do the trick, Sleiman says.

Now that the city's parking obligation is met, the burden is on Sleiman to perform.

After the vote, he told me he was meeting next month with a nationally known brewery about putting a brew pub in the Landing.

For downtown to succeed, the Landing needs to succeed and that would be a step in the right direction.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/401026/ron-littlepage/2010-06-09/economy-should-benefit-city-council-action

[JeffreyS]

The city Council was not business as usual yesterday Kudos.

[fsujax]

Ohhhh...maybe a Gordon Biersch! that would be fun.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Wow Mr. Littlepage I'm shocked.

[tufsu1]

Ohhhh...maybe a Gordon Biersch! that would be fun.

you mean like 7 Bridges, Ragtime, or A1A AleWorks (all owned by Gordon Biersch)?

[fsujax]

yes. GB we do not have. The Landing needs someting the SJTC doesn't have.

[duvaldude08]

Im glad its finally resovled after 23 years. I think it could have been resovled a long time ago, but I dont think the Landing's previous owner really made an uproar about it like sleimen. Way to go 

[fieldafm]

BTW, in Abel Harding's latest musings in the Times Union today....

Barton said the recent approval of the Landing parking lot purchase took $3 million of the $8 million allocated for the first phase of rennovations at Metropolitan Park.

"I'm reminded of Joni Mitchell," Barton said, referring to Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi", which speaks of a parking lot.



The Landing, with a unanimous vote of the City Council behind them supporting the parking plan, would no doubt beg to disagree.

Talk about the freaking pot calling the kettle black!!!

I went to Kids Kampus today at 11:30am.  There was a mother and her son, and that was it.  I realize not all schools are out yet... but, just out of curiousity Im going to drive back next Thursday at lunchtime and see if there are even less people than the mother/son combo from today.  If I could place a bet in Vegas, Im taking the under  .

[copperfiend]

I wonder "paradise" Barton is referring to?

[thelakelander]

I'd really like to know what the obession is over turning kids kampus into flex space and how would such an investment positively impact the downtown core.

[reednavy]

Makes me wonder if Sleiman will try and go after a Margaritaville. Just a thought.

[duvaldude08]

I'd really like to know what the obsession is over turning kids campus into flex space and how would such an investment positively impact the downtown core.

And I'm pretty sure Peyton has no logical explanation for it aside from that fact that he wants to do it. I am 28 years old and I have been to metro park 3 times in my life. Once for a concert when I was 12, once on a field trip, and once 2 years ago for the Longshore Association picnic. I'm sure I'm not the only that has visited there on a limited basis.

[kells904]

duvaldude:

Was it a field trip to MOSH?  That's the only time I ever went there...think it was third grade, and I'm 29 now. 

The idea that the Peyton regime is almost over makes my inner child happy.  Ding dong the witch is dead (almost).