The Jacksonville Landing opened its doors to the world with much fanfare in 1987.  Over the following 20 years the 125,000sf complex would see several national tenants, like the Banana Republic and The Sharper Image flee to greener pastures, partially due to the city’s negligence in providing the required parking it promised two decades earlier.

Things changed for the better once Toney Sleiman took over in 2003, and its future appears to be a bright one, with the parking issue finally being resolved.  Nevertheless, when it comes to the subject of urban connectivity, there are a few things Sleiman can do… even if the city never sells the land underneath the complex.

Could Laura Street become the home of an energetic urban environment similar to Denver's 16th Street Mall, Tampa's Ybor City, Cleveland's East 4th Street and Miami Beach's Lincoln Road?  Today Metro Jacksonville gives an update to the status of the Lighting Laura Street plan, as well as several projects springing up along the Northbank's premier urban corridor.

The modern college campus is changing.  As available space decreases on urban campuses, schools are recognizing the wisdom of intergrating campuses into the surrounding urban envirnoment.  In recent years there has been a visible blurring of town and campus, as urban densities becomes a 21st century reality.  As a consequence, there is a growing demand for a more creative use of space.  Locally, Jacksonville may not have a major urban university in it's core, but it does have a few places of higher learning, including one sitting in the heart of downtown, forming a major part of the barrier that separates downtown from Springfield... Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ).