Ron Littlepage: Sleiman has stronger case on Landing parking issue

[Kay]

I'm having a hard time believing the Landing's problems are all due to lack of parking.  Tony is the strip center king and must believe customers need to be able to park at the front door.  Can the surface lot be rented by Sleiman at night?  We've seen no movement on Sleiman's part to open up the Landing and change it in ways that will pull more people in.

And I am definitely opposed to taking money from the historic trust fund. 

[thelakelander]

^National tenants have parking requirements and the Landing doesn't have the necessary 24/7 "dedicated" parking to land them.  This has been a problem since the day the center opened, so its a much larger issue than Toney.  Its something all major retail centers have to deal with and provide unless they are located in an environment with good mass transit and heavy pedestrian traffic.

Btw, I'm also opposed to taking money from the historic trust fund.  The city should go back and subtract the money from whatever project it was shifted to.  If its Metropolitan Park, which many claim it is, so be it.

[ChriswUfGator]

I'm having a hard time believing the Landing's problems are all due to lack of parking.  Tony is the strip center king and must believe customers need to be able to park at the front door.  Can the surface lot be rented by Sleiman at night?  We've seen no movement on Sleiman's part to open up the Landing and change it in ways that will pull more people in.

And I am definitely opposed to taking money from the historic trust fund.  

It's not quite that simple. These big corporate chains have a list of qualifications that any potential landlord has to meet. It's not your normal situation, the big guys have landlords begging them to come in, not the other way around.

One of the first items on the list is they have statistical studies done for all their different floorplans, and they know that for a location with XX amount of traffic they want XX amount of parking available at the location depending on the time. If the landlord can't provide that, he doesn't make it past the first round.

The current parking situation at the Landing probably wouldn't have enough spaces to qualify for a single Cheesecake Factory, let alone support the rest of the center. The only reason the initial corporate tenants moved in back when it was first built was the contractual promise of parking, and when that promise wasn't met (and traffic suffered accordingly) they left, except Hooters.

Parking is a must, if they really want to continue to have this thing operate as what it is, a mall. Again, I think a better model is a multipart entertainment venue like Church Street Station was in the 90's, but Sleiman wants his downtown mall, so if that's going to work they need the parking or they're not going to attract any tenants anyone would want to go to, and the place will continue to languish. There are only so many people who will drive down there and get a parking ticket just to look at asian gift stores, cell phone accessories, and football jerseys. The restaurants mainly survive on the lunch crowd, and on whoever's downtown for business or staying at the Omni. There's no real reason to go there for most people.

If you want people to go there, you have to give them a reason to go. To get the reason to lease from you, you have to meet their qualifications. The egg comes before the chicken on this one.

[CS Foltz]

ChriswUFGator............I do agree with your take on the situation! Parking is a requirement plain and simple and until that issue is addressed the "Landing" will continue to struggle to survive! Johnny is a buffon and has not vision or plan for downtown and it is evident now more than ever! Silly Boy Blunder!

[thelakelander]

Again, I think a better model is a multipart entertainment venue like Church Street Station was in the 90's, but Sleiman wants his downtown mall, so if that's going to work they need the parking or they're not going to attract any tenants anyone would want to go to, and the place will continue to languish.

Actually, Sleiman does not want a downtown retail mall.  He wants the same thing you and many others want, which is aa entertainment and dining oriented waterfront center.  However, he's seeking a major national restaurant chain, or two, or three, to anchor the center.  Like national retailers, those restaurant chains (like Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux Cafe, Red Robin, etc.) also have minimum dedicated parking requirements that must be met.


Sleiman now sees the Landing as more of a restaurant and entertainment destination than a shopping center, and is targeting tenants such as bars and family-style restuarants....


In conjunction with a city project that includes converting Laura Street to a two-way road from the Landing at Independent Drive to Monroe Street, Sleiman also wants to remove the white coquina façade on the west side of the building and create entries directly into the center from the street level. He’s also negotiating with several national chain restaurants to move into the Landing, but those deals are contingent on Sleiman creating more parking.[/quote]

Read more: Sleiman: A man with a plan for The Jacksonville Landing - Jacksonville Business Journal: http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/11/16/focus4.html

[DetroitInJAX]

Just shows you that the city simply pays lip service to the idea of "downtown revitalization".  What can we do RIGHT now that costs little or nothing, thats the city's motto.  No lasting, groundbreaking changes because, you have to admit, there's no votes in downtown.  People that live in Mandarin would rather have new traffic lights for Mandarin, not another parking garage for downtown.

Until we get people in office that are serious about having a vibrant, bustling downtown instead of stupid barber shop owners-turned-councilmen who would rather taunt and demean people that have darker skin than themselves, nothing will happen.  Not to mention the rest of the First Baptist Church City Hall and Council.  

This backwards city is an embarrassment.

[thelakelander]

^Now that you mention it, its pretty embarrassing that downtown's council representative is more passionate about a Muslim sitting on the Human Rights Commission than the state of the district he is elected to serve.  No wonder the place continues to struggle despite tons of money being invested within the district.