Hmm.... ???
QuoteCity sues owners of Jacksonville Landing in dispute over 2007 land purchase
The City of Jacksonville on Wednesday sued the owners of the downtown Jacksonville Landing over the company's attempt to cancel its purchase of a parking lot and get back the $4.3 million price it paid for the land in 2007.
The city and the company, Jacksonville Landing Investments, LLC, are in a dispute over the land purchase. Although the company paid the city for the parking lot, it never signed the documents to officially take ownership and demanded last October that the city return the money it paid and take back the land.
full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-10-06/story/city-sues-owners-jacksonville-landing-dispute-over-2007-land-purchase
Well, this has taken an interesting turn.
I guess we can put the Landing redevelopment plans on a big block of ice?
Who did Toney support for Mayor?
These are such amazing stories, and prima facia evidence that developers and city officials are complete f@ck ups. They paid the money but never signed the documents? WTF?
The Buyer pays and the City (Seller) signs the deed over, not the other way around. Buyers do not sign deeds over to Sellers.
This occurred in 2007? Very timely of all parties involved. Maybe there will be a fresh lawsuit involving Berkman II right around the corner.
Quote from: Charles Hunter on October 06, 2015, 07:55:35 PM
Who did Toney support for Mayor?
He appeared in television ads for Brown.
So no surprise with the latest developments.
interesting that it seems this started last October...while Brown was still in charge
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Quote from: MusicMan on October 06, 2015, 09:07:00 PM
These are such amazing stories, and prima facia evidence that developers and city officials are complete f@ck ups. They paid the money but never signed the documents? WTF?
The Buyer pays and the City (Seller) signs the deed over, not the other way around. Buyers do not sign deeds over to Sellers.
This occurred in 2007? Very timely of all parties involved. Maybe there will be a fresh lawsuit involving Berkman II right around the corner.
I can't vouch for real estate transactions in the USA, having never purchased property there. But when I bought my flat in the UK, we (all parties involved) had to sign a contract.
What a cluster. I don't even remember this original deal to build a mixed use project there. What was it going to include besides parking? From day 1 the entire Landing deal between the city and it owners (Rouse and Sleiman) have been a disaster.
I think the Landing will continue to blame the city for their lack of success, and they aren't entirely wrong. It is a little difficult to park/ paying for parking is annoying. However, I always fall back on my Bistro Aix/French Pantry argument. If you deliver a solid product, the citizens of Jax will go out of their way to support you despite some inconveniences. Other than the view, what is there at the landing that's worth supporting?
It's funny that the Property Appraisers office shows that the city owns the land.
http://apps.coj.net/PAO_PropertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0744450000
Quote from: Captain Zissou on October 07, 2015, 09:24:26 AM
I think the Landing will continue to blame the city for their lack of success, and they aren't entirely wrong. It is a little difficult to park/ paying for parking is annoying. However, I always fall back on my Bistro Aix/French Pantry argument. If you deliver a solid product, the citizens of Jax will go out of their way to support you despite some inconveniences. Other than the view, what is there at the landing that's worth supporting?
Hooters, duh.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on October 07, 2015, 09:24:26 AM
I think the Landing will continue to blame the city for their lack of success, and they aren't entirely wrong. It is a little difficult to park/ paying for parking is annoying. However, I always fall back on my Bistro Aix/French Pantry argument. If you deliver a solid product, the citizens of Jax will go out of their way to support you despite some inconveniences. Other than the view, what is there at the landing that's worth supporting?
the courtyard....lots of local bands, dance squads, choirs, etc. perform there throughout the year....and of course the Landing hosts many festivals that are very worth supporting.
Quote from: tufsu1 on October 07, 2015, 10:24:52 AM
the courtyard....lots of local bands, dance squads, choirs, etc. perform there throughout the year....and of course the Landing hosts many festivals that are very worth supporting.
You and I have very different opinions on high school dance squads and choirs, tufsu.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on October 07, 2015, 11:29:27 AM
Quote from: tufsu1 on October 07, 2015, 10:24:52 AM
the courtyard....lots of local bands, dance squads, choirs, etc. perform there throughout the year....and of course the Landing hosts many festivals that are very worth supporting.
You and I have very different opinions on high school dance squads and choirs, tufsu.
apparently so...I have seen several of my friends and colleagues kids perform at the Landing during Christmas season for example....something about supporting our local community I guess.
and maybe things like the Jax Truckies Food Trucks Championship are also not worth attending....although it seems nearly 10,000 people this year felt differently/
Quote from: Car Guy on October 07, 2015, 09:50:42 AM
It's funny that the Property Appraisers office shows that the city owns the land.
http://apps.coj.net/PAO_PropertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0744450000
I think Slaiman owns the landing, (the structure itsself) but the city owns the actual land it sits on. I think that's the case, though I could be wrong.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on October 07, 2015, 11:29:27 AM
Quote from: tufsu1 on October 07, 2015, 10:24:52 AM
the courtyard....lots of local bands, dance squads, choirs, etc. perform there throughout the year....and of course the Landing hosts many festivals that are very worth supporting.
You and I have very different opinions on high school dance squads and choirs, tufsu.
Too "small town" for you CZ? Mavericks (live) has a lot of good national acts.
And say what you want about Hooters, but it's been there since day 1 :)
The city's right on this lawsuit. Sleiman owes taxes that he hasn't been paying. Basically, he purchased the parking lot from the city and has been using it and collecting fees there ever since. But he didn't file the deed or other documents for the property, in order to get out of paying taxes on it. The city's efforts to get him to pay up seem to have ended once Sleiman became friendly with Mayor Brown. It's all made convoluted by issue of the city's obligation to provide parking for the Landing, but what we're seeing here is the city trying to get paid taxes we're owed.
Curious as to why Mayor Peyton did not go after this. It started under his watch.
Why would the city rely on Sleiman to record the deed? Does the City have attorneys or not? I find this beyond ridiculous.
Quote from: Tacachale on October 08, 2015, 09:45:55 PM
The city's right on this lawsuit. Sleiman owes taxes that he hasn't been paying. Basically, he purchased the parking lot from the city and has been using it and collecting fees there ever since. But he didn't file the deed or other documents for the property, in order to get out of paying taxes on it. The city's efforts to get him to pay up seem to have ended once Sleiman became friendly with Mayor Brown. It's all made convoluted by issue of the city's obligation to provide parking for the Landing, but what we're seeing here is the city trying to get paid taxes we're owed.
Good point. Who ever "closed" the transaction should have sent the deed to clerk of court for recording. You would also think someone at the City would have followed up to see that the deed was recorded.
Quote from: MusicMan on October 09, 2015, 07:56:37 AM
Curious as to why Mayor Peyton did not go after this. It started under his watch.
He did go after it, but it got lost in the shuffle of all the other contentions over the Landing at the time. It looks like the city was still pursuing the issue into Brown's term (at least officially) but then dropped it.
Quote from: Kay on October 09, 2015, 08:39:27 AM
Why would the city rely on Sleiman to record the deed? Does the City have attorneys or not? I find this beyond ridiculous.
Quote from: Tacachale on October 08, 2015, 09:45:55 PM
The city's right on this lawsuit. Sleiman owes taxes that he hasn't been paying. Basically, he purchased the parking lot from the city and has been using it and collecting fees there ever since. But he didn't file the deed or other documents for the property, in order to get out of paying taxes on it. The city's efforts to get him to pay up seem to have ended once Sleiman became friendly with Mayor Brown. It's all made convoluted by issue of the city's obligation to provide parking for the Landing, but what we're seeing here is the city trying to get paid taxes we're owed.
What do you mean? The city filed the deed on their end. Sleiman just refused to accept it, even though he had paid for the lot and starting collecting parking fees on it. Presumably, it initially started as leverage in trying to get the city to give him more parking, but eventually it became a way for him to claim he didn't have to pay taxes and fees on revenue-generating property he owned.
What's even crazier is that Sleiman started this all last October by demanding that the city pay
him back the purchase price of the property, which, again, he had owned and used for 7 years.
https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546280