Hello to everyone on MetroJacksonville.com!
My name is Rachel Nudge and I am the PR Director for The Jacksonville Landing. I was recently given the opportunity to sit down with Stephen Dare and learn more about MetroJacksonville.com. Also in attendance at that meeting was Landing GM Janice Lowe. We were blown away!! So, we decided to create an official Landing account. The main user will be me, but every now and then Janice may pop on here to see what is going on. We hope that this forum enables us to learn more about the city around us AND be able to better inform you of what is going on at The Jacksonville Landing.
So please, if you have any questions, concerns or thoughts about The Landing, please feel free to contact me here on MetroJacksonville.com, or email me directly at rnudge@sleiman.com. In the meantime, check out our site for the latest and greatest Landing news!
www.jacksonvillelanding.com (http://www.jacksonvillelanding.com)
Thanks and we're so glad to be a part of this unique and growing site!
Welcome to the Board. I do not think you will be disappointed. There is always so much being said about the Landing on this site. I remember when the Landing first opened, I was 10 years old. It was such an exciting place to visit.
How did the Sidewalk ChalkFest go?
I didn't make it this year.....
can we get free lunch?! :D
at Hooters?
Chicago Pizza rocks! I was there this past Saturday with the wife and we had a blast. We shall be back!
Quote from: fsu813 on November 16, 2009, 06:18:11 PM
at Hooters?
horrible service!!
atleast that one does, or has
course i go at lunch on occasion so its not the best staff and the really good waitress there went to germany
The Landing seems to be making all the right moves lately. Shame the Fire Marshall decided he wanted to feel like a big man on Florida Georgia weekend.
Wow! This is great!
FSU813: The 2nd Annual Chalk Fest went great, especially since we did not have to deal with the rain. You should come and see the sketches that are left in our Courtyard and Breezeways. These artists were so talented!
Sportmotor: A free lunch is not completely unheard of at The Landing! The next chance to win one would be on the next Friday before a home Jaguar Game when we set up our Prize Wheel. It's a promotion we call "Show your teal and spin the wheel!" All you have to do is show your support for the Jags by wearing teal, and then you can spin the wheel to win prizes!
FSU813: One of the prizes on the wheel mentioned above is 50 wings from Hooters, which technically could be your lunch!
mtraininjax: So glad to hear it. They have done a wonderful job with the restaurant - truly class A the whole way!
JeffreyS: What happened on Friday night of Florida/Georgia was simply a tragedy. We had businesses that were left completely empty and customers were not even given the option to go inside them. What is so terrible is that our merchants are here 365 days a year and they need event weekends like Florida/Georgia to survive. They pay taxes to the city, so when they do well, they city makes money. Yet - the city allows food vendors to set up around our property during every special event and then they shut us down at a time when we would normally be getting busy on Friday of FL/GA. Granted, we do not want an unsafe environment. The way it was ultimately handled on Saturday was much improved (letting one person in when one person left). Friday was unfair and not necessary.
Welcome Jax Landing!
Since everyone is tossing questions at you I may as well throw one in as well. Are there any concrete plans to carry out at least portions of the '03 plans to upgrade/expand the Landing or to at least turn it inside out and offer more interactions with Independent Street?
Hey Jacksonville Landing! Love y'all, welcome and glad to have you rolling down the track with us! As the resident old hippie, and Transportation Consultant on MJ, we need to talk. Got some head bubbling ideas for The Landing and the City and I'd love the chance to bounce a couple of freebies your way.
OCKLAWAHA
Hi Jason! This is a great question!
The plans that were revealed back in November 2003 (just two months after Toney bought The Landing) were all based on the fact that the City would agree to sell the land that the building sits on to Sleiman Enterprises. See, Toney just adopted the lease that was in place by the original owner and developer (The Rouse Company) where the building is owned by Toney (Sleiman Enterprises), but the land is owned by the City. Now, even though the City owns the land, Sleiman Enterprises leases the land and controls it (think about how it is when you rent an apartment or house. Someone else owns it, but you rent it and you can control what happens on it). The original lease (from back in 1987) was a 72 year lease, which means there are almost 50 years left on that lease.
The bottom line is that Toney desperately wants to make some major improvements to The Landing (which includes finally tackling that one key issue that continues to stall progress = parking!), but he is not going to do it without owning the land.
Hi Ocklawaha - thanks for the welcome!
Sounds great. We love all the ideas and suggestions that you have - especially if it works to make it easier for people to think about us and get to us!
Here is a good article from 2007 about the Landing.
Urban Connectivity: The Jacksonville Landing (http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2007-mar-urban-connectivity-the-jacksonville-landing)
Rachel,
I may be the Landing's biggest fan, though I'm out of state. My family used to travel to Volusia County every summer on vacation, during which time I fell in love with Jacksonville. The absolute highlight of my year was when we would stop at the Landing on the way down and I could buy a Jacksonville book, a Jaguars shirt, or a picture of the city. Now I go to Jacksonville on vacation every chance I get, and I always make sure to visit the Landing at least once on my trips. I especially like to be able to stop in and buy some of James Pontal's photography. Congratulations on all the great tenants you have added recently and many thanks for all you do to keep improving one of my longtime favorite spots to visit. Thanks also for being part of encouraging support for the Jaguars.
Did Stephen happen to broach the idea he'd raised on the forum about a farmer's/fish market outside the Landing?
I don't know if it's at all feasible to bring it back, but I miss the pushcart market that used to be at the Landing; it added to the atmosphere and honored a piece of Jacksonville history with its name.
Are there plans to do anything with the area that will no longer contain the Andrew Jackson statue???
What! where is the statue going?
^^the intersection of Laura St and Independent Dr.
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?
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!
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?
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.
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.
Will the Christmas tree be artificial like last year, or a real tree likes years past?
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
Shwaz:
Hmm...thanks for the heads up. I'll check it out tomorrow and have HVAC investigate, too.
vicupstate:
Thanks! I am really liking it so far!
Yeah, Peterbrooke.....(sigh). To answer your question, I would say that it's not completely off our radar of possibilities. Having them move to The Landing just makes so much sense. Specifically, it would add the one thing we have been wanting for quite some time; an attraction. Just think of what it would draw.....school field trips, convention/reunion and corporate business ordering personalized logo chocolate bars, tours of the factory, etc.........simply amazing! To make it happen it will require, again, - a public/private partnership. But we agree that The Landing would be that perfect location for Peterbrooke.
I can't say that RAM has been a big draw for The Landing, but I can say that it has had such a positive impact for all of downtown Jacksonville. Many people who had never been downtown, or hadn't been downtown in a while, are now finding their way and coming back often. I think what that has done is put us on the map and made some people think of going downtown and experiencing all that it has to offer. They may come for RAM one weekend and then come to The Landing the next.
I would love to see the response from candidates in the 2011 mayoral race concerning their willingness to let a private business buy the land and be able to finally work towards some needed improvements. If the response is favorable, it would also be interesting to ask if they would hold that promise after elected. But, vicupstate, I truly appreciate your support. I love communicating with people who have taken the time to do their research!
tufsu1:
You are right!! I actually toured that group from the APA Florida Conference and got a sneak peak at their findings. It was definitely interesting and we really appreciated their efforts! I'll be at the luncheon on Friday, too - in case you are there. Come and say hello!
Quote from: JaxLanding on November 17, 2009, 09:00:45 PMKenFSU:
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!
I must admit, I was skeptical, bordering on heartbroken, when I heard the tree would be artificial. I believe I even made a thread on this very forum expressing said disappointment. And then I went down to The Landing and saw her in action. It was love at first sight. Though I'd never tolerate an artificial tree in my own home, I think you guys made a good choice. Not only do you save a ton of money, but you spare chopping down a decades-old tree :D
Welcome, by the way!
JaxLanding wrote "I would love to see the response from candidates in the 2011 mayoral race concerning their willingness to let a private business buy the land and be able to finally work towards some needed improvements."
It would be a win-win for the taxpayers as well. The revenues from the sale and the annual dividends in the form of property taxes.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-aug-forgotten-proposals-the-jacksonville-quay
I agree that a seafood market could work - even if limited too the weekend - as discussed before, incorporated with RAM.
BTW, has there been any additional movement toward utilizing the River Taxis on Saturdays to & from RAM?
KenFSU:
We wrestled with the same feelings you expressed when we thought about changing to an artificial tree. We had been using a real one for SO long, but we wanted to find something that could continue to bring traffic here for our merchants throughout the holiday season. We thought this tree was a perfect fit for our needs because it does a show of its own and would be something that people could make plans to enjoy several times during the season. (as a kid I remember driving around my with parents looking at lights on houses...so this tree show would have been SO much fun!) And to be honest, our real trees never looked very pretty after being up for a month and a half. The river wind and salty air bring havoc to anything (real or fake) left out for a long period of time. It was all we could do back in the day to try to keep it looking less "charlie-brown-esque".
BUT - I am so glad to hear that you kept an open mind and came out to see the tree last year. It is a lot of fun and can make for a pretty inexpensive family-friendly event!
wait, there's a Chicago pizza at the landing now?!
WHY HASN'T ANYONE TOLD ME THIS!?