Greetings from The Jacksonville Landing

JaxLanding · November 16, 2009, 04:21:12 PM

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

Thanks and we're so glad to be a part of this unique and growing site!

fsujax · November 16, 2009, 04:24:28 PM

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.

fsu813 · November 16, 2009, 05:38:05 PM

How did the Sidewalk ChalkFest go?

I didn't make it this year.....

Sportmotor · November 16, 2009, 05:40:05 PM

can we get free lunch?!

fsu813 · November 16, 2009, 06:18:11 PM

at Hooters?

mtraininjax · November 16, 2009, 07:06:54 PM

Chicago Pizza rocks! I was there this past Saturday with the wife and we had a blast. We shall be back!

Sportmotor · November 16, 2009, 07:18:45 PM

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

JeffreyS · November 16, 2009, 08:59:12 PM

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.

JaxLanding · November 16, 2009, 11:00:46 PM

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.

Jason · November 17, 2009, 09:16:07 AM

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?

Ocklawaha · November 17, 2009, 10:43:01 AM

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

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 10:43:17 AM

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.

JaxLanding · November 17, 2009, 10:45:10 AM

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!

Lunican · November 17, 2009, 10:50:40 AM

Here is a good article from 2007 about the Landing.

Urban Connectivity: The Jacksonville Landing

Wacca Pilatka · November 17, 2009, 11:08:44 AM

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.