^The reason I ask is because there are still people in this community who believe Lot J is some sort of transformational project that will attract millions of people to downtown. If this is not a gamechanger, something significantly smaller in Jacksonville will not be either, no matter who builds it. Other than that, how does Lot J continue to drop in scale but the financial incentives level remains the same? I mean, if we're going to put this much money into a project, should it not be more significant in size, with a cost/sf in the range of similar projects across the state and country?
As it aged, the Landing seemed to become a place, at most, to stop by for most people if they were already in the Downtown area looking for something to do. And those people were most likely here for an event like Fla/Ga, Xmas lighting, July 4th fireworks, etc., I don't think the Landing was a destination capable of attracting many visitors, especially from out-of-town, all by itself.
Likewise, after a novelty period, I don't see Lot J pulling in many visitors other than during events in the sports complex. And, most of those visitors will be locals cannibalized from other venues in the urban core or maybe from Town Center. I can't imagine someone in Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, New Orleans, Nashville, New York, or even in places between Daytona and Savannah or anywhere else waking up and saying, gee, we need to go to Jacksonville, FL to see LIVE! at Lot J!
If one assumes our biggest tourist draw is our beaches, I also don't see why someone on vacation would "come into town" to see it. Now, if LIVE! was in Jacksonville Beach, that would be a different story. Tourists already in the area might hit at night after a day at the beach. Downtown has no tourists traffic aside from special events so there isn't a sustainable natural constituency.
Add it all up, and I agree, Lot J isn't going to be transformational for Downtown. It will be transformational for taxpayers' and Khan's wallets though, with opposite effects

.