by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Depending on which side is doing the talking, last week’s City offer of 375 parking spaces to the Landing either closes the two parties’ debate or gets it started.
The City sees the offer of 375 spaces built on the surface lot just west of the SunTrust building (formerly the Humana building) as a resolution to its legal obligation to Landing owner Toney Sleiman. Landing management sees the offer as a component of a more comprehensive agreement.
Sleiman attorney Mitch Legler told the Florida Times-Union last week that the offer was a step in the right direction. The offer’s author, Ron Barton, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, said no additional steps need be taken.
“I see it as more substantial than that,” said Barton, responding to Legler’s comments. “This discussion is only about how to address parking. This offer isn’t a conversation starter. This is an opener and an ender.”
Last week, Legler said he wanted to revisit earlier negotiations with the City. Legler believed he and Sleiman were on the doorstep of a deal that would have let the Landing solve its own parking woes in exchange for the City deeding to Sleiman the riverfront land underneath the downtown mall. Mayor John Peyton scrapped that plan after months of negotiation. Sleiman has a 50-year lease on the property.
But Barton said those comprehensive talks stemmed from a single issue: how to fulfill the City’s legal requirement to provide parking for the Landing. Only after that issue is settled will the City discuss Sleiman’s larger ambitions, he said.
“This is a good solution because it’s easy. Why talk about all these other complicated things that we’re not legally required to do?” said Barton. “There is one, and only one, unresolved issue... and that’s parking. There have never been unresolved issues with respect to Toney owning the land.”
Getting the land is seen as necessary before Sleiman pursues a costly renovation of the Landing. The earlier deal called for Sleiman’s ownership group, Jacksonville Landing Investments, to build a garage on Hogan Street next to the mall. When parking on the SunTrust site was offered in early March, JLI preferred the garage option.
But those earlier talks broke down, in part, because the Hogan Street garage would impede public access and views of the river, said Barton. That goes against the City’s downtown master plan. The SunTrust site keeps within the master plan’s guidelines while offering SLI parking close to the Landing, he said.
Touting his offer’s advantages, Barton said the deal would also clear the way for developer Cameron Kuhn to start work on his $100 million River Watch at City Centre. The mixed-use development is planned for the same site. The Landing’s parking spaces would come from a 1,075-space garage built for the development.
Because the garage would be partially funded by a City settlement with Humana, which had earlier promised to build a garage on the site, Barton said it could be built at minimum cost to the City and at no cost to JLI.
“This is a good deal because it’s easy,” said Barton. “We can do this tomorrow. It keeps us from selling the land or from closing Hogan Street and it forgoes the taxpayer having to spend money to solve this problem.”