Twisted Martini closing at The Jacksonville Landing

[copperfiend]

I doubt the Landing ever becomes relevant in the nightlife scene. Places keep opening at Jax Beach and near Tinseltown. The Landing is in neutral going up a hill.

[thelakelander]

There's room for the Landing to be a player, as well as many other clusters around town.  After all, we have over 1.3 million people living in metro Jacksonville.

[copperfiend]

I agree it "can" be. But I don't know that it "will" be.

[urbaknight]

Maybe we can get a Fuddruckers in there 

I heard IKEA was going to rent the space for their new concept, IKEA LITE.

I have an idea - I know this sounds crazy but - VIDEO ARCADE.

That would be very cool, and the whole family can enjoy it. Or, just give the kids a handful of quarters and tell them to get lost for a while.

[Doctor_K]

I doubt the Landing ever becomes relevant in the nightlife scene. Places keep opening at Jax Beach and near Tinseltown. The Landing is in neutral going up a hill.

Meh.  With the mobility plan finally moving forward and streetcar passing by or near the Landing with termini in Avondale and Springfield, another line to the Stadium, and the burgeoning Bay Street stuff, I think it might be just fine in the long run.

And if Sleiman doesn't jack the rent so high that he runs everyone else out in the meantime.

[Steve_Lovett]

Maybe we can get a Fuddruckers in there 

I heard IKEA was going to rent the space for their new concept, IKEA LITE.

I have an idea - I know this sounds crazy but - VIDEO ARCADE.

That would be very cool, and the whole family can enjoy it. Or, just give the kids a handful of quarters and tell them to get lost for a while.

Really?  We've digressed to giving credence to converting one of the city's finest riverfront sites into a dark, indoor video-game environment?

Our riverfront has the potential to be one of the country's GREAT WATERFRONTS.  We need to think greater than Video Arcades and Theme Parks.

[tufsu1]

forget Fuddruckers or IKEA...let's go with Bass Pro Shops...and give them tax breaks just like Tampa is considering

http://www2.tbo.com/business/business/2011/may/25/4/bass-pro-shops-tax-break-negotiations-continue-ar-232533/

[fieldafm]

The Landing isn't losing tenants b/c of a greedy landlord... let's make that very clear.

A shrinking working population, recession and a year long road construction project have made life very difficult for a lot of restaurants.

And there was a video arcade for many years... where Mavericks(former Paris) is located

[thelakelander]

True.  It's kind of silly to expect the Landing to be a grand success when the downtown environment surrounding it is in a serious decline.

[tufsu1]

The Landing isn't losing tenants b/c of a greedy landlord... let's make that very clear.

well let's also be fair...the landlord is geared to suburban shopping centers...generally filled with relatively low-end local and big box stores....plus many of the centers are half empty (and they get a tax credit if they stay empty).

and then there's also the sitll decent level of visitors that come to town...heck, how many people will be downtown this weekend?

so maybe it isn't as simple as blaming the Landing's struggles solely on declining office populations and lack of enough dedicated parking

[Jimmy]

And there was a video arcade for many years... where Mavericks(former Paris) is located

...and it was the best use of that space (so far).  Made me love going to the Landing as a kid.

[thelakelander]

Maybe it's just time to stop looking for who to blame and get to work on fixing the problems? DT will never look good if it's main attraction remains empty and outdated.

[tufsu1]

Maybe it's just time to stop looking for who to blame and get to work on fixing the problems? DT will never look good if it's main attraction remains empty and outdated.

now that I can agree with

[peestandingup]

Maybe it's just time to stop looking for who to blame and get to work on fixing the problems? DT will never look good if it's main attraction remains empty and outdated.

People would still find their way there if they thought it was worth it. The Landing has a ton of potential & really should be the main attraction to downtown & all the adjacent neighborhoods. It's certainly big enough.

To me, it just seems like it's poorly managed & in the middle of an unfinished Riverwalk. There's a lot of annoyances with the Landing. The fountain in the square is only on half the time, the food court is pretty terrible & generic (and way overpriced), the stage outside looks really crappy with a banner that looks like it costs about $10 to make, the clientele a lot of times is pretty rednecky, the big screen is so pixelated that you can't even tell what you're looking at, etc.

Oh, and just try to get something simple like a bottle of water anywhere on the property with a credit card. Sure you can do it, but you'll also be required to buy a bunch of other stuff because all the places have something like a $5 minimum purchase (which is just idiotic & drives people away). This isn't some high class establishment, so save the minimum purchase crap for some other time when things aren't going downhill.

So yeah, the place needs a lot of thought. It's nothing really major, just some management that doesn't have it's head up it's ass.

[thelakelander]

The fountain and courtyard itself is actually city owned property.  Hopefully, Alvin Brown's administration will be able to come to some sort of resolution with Sleiman.