cityXtra Magazine

Jacksonville Landing Redo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Demolish and rebuild is what's being proposed to give The Jacksonville Landing a new lease on life.

Mayor Alvin Brown and Landing owner Tony Sleiman are behind proposed changes to the 26 year-old Downtown attracttion that borders the St. Johns River.

Renderings of the project released Saturday afternoon by Bergmann Associates feature over 950 parking spaces, 300 apartment units and up to 60,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

The plans include a high-end boutique hotel along the southwest corner of the site.
Landing owner Toney Sleiman is asking for an initial investment of $11.8 million, a request the City Council was slated to discuss Friday but rescheduled for next week.

The Landing could be opened up for more events and entertainment in the future and possibly economic growth, if the plan presented Wednesday to the Downtown Investment Authority is put into action.

The plans also include improvements under the Main Street bridge to create more pedestrian access between the Landing, the Hyatt and the City’s Riverwalk.

Laura Street will be extended down to the river and a new plaza will be created from the Hogan Street cul-de-sac, integrating the Northbank Riverwalk, the Landing and the adjacent Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.

Sleiman said the redevelopment of the Landing would help Jacksonville compete on a national scale.

“It will allow our businesses to compete with other cities for young professional talent," he said. "I can’t tell you how much we appreciate the hard work of the City and community leaders to get the project to this point, but there is still a lot of work ahead."

Alan Wilson of The Haskell Company presented the redevelopment plan, saying the city needs anidentifier.

Haskell wants to tearthe Landing down and rebuild it, Wilson said. Parking, hotels, restaurants and workforcehousing would be included in the new Landing structure, which would be severalstories tall.

The idea is to connect Downtown and the Riverfront, Wilson said.

"Our goal should be to make it iconic," said Brown. "To make sure it becomes a destination.To make sure it's user friendly. I want people to use the landing not just from nine to five, but seven days a week."

The redevelopment is still in the planning stages. There is no cost estimate for the construction of the design as yet.

Sleiman said it will be a public-private partnership and the city and mayor are on board to move forward