https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2020/jan/17/the-plan-to-spur-downtown-dining-includes-incentives-for-restaurants/
Here is the list of Jacksonville restaurants that the DIA could target for expansion Downtown. The list was created by the jaxrestaurantreviews.com blog as examples of restaurants that would draw people Downtown. DIA officials said the list is preliminary and restaurants could be added.
• 4 Rivers Smokehouse
• Angie’s Subs
• The Bearded Pig
• Catullo’s
• Cinotti’s Bakery and Sandwich Shop
• Domu
• Doro
• Fish Camps/Valley Smoke
• Fish House Group (Orange Park Fish House, Beach Road Fish & Chicken Dinners)
• The French Pantry
• Le Petit Paris
• Pie95 Pizza and Catering
• Safe Harbor Seafood
• Sliders Oyster Bar
• Picasso’s
• Soul Food Bistro
• Terra Gaucha
Just want to highlight how ridiculous this is^. Boyer was elected CEO of the DIA on May 15, 2019. On May 24, 2019, the Times Union editorial board
BEGGED the city to not tear The Landing down without first evaluating adaptive reuse opportunities.
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/editorials/2019/05/24/friday-editorial-dont-demolish-landing-before-examining-adaptive-reuse/5074357007/Boyer then started her position in July 2019. This was right around the time that the last tenants at The Landing were closing up. The Landing demo did not start until October 2019. On January 14, 2020, Boyer rolled out the DIA’s Targeted Food and Beverage Program. So presumably that plan was being worked on well before The Landing demo. With cover from the TU Editorial on May 24, 2019, Boyer could have stepped up and implored the City and Mayor Curry to pause The Landing demo and evaluate adaptive re-use. Instead, she rolled over and started working on a fruitless Targeted Food and Beverage Program.
The Landing RFP was not issued until January 2021, a full 15 months after demolition and a year in a half after Boyer started at the DIA. It's easy sometimes to play armchair QB and claim that things should have been done differently in the past....BUT many of us here on this board were clamoring for this at the time.
The clear, obvious, and correct move for the City was to issue an RFP in 2019 that pondered three design concepts: 1. Keeping The Landing as is 2. Adapting and modifying the existing structure 3. Tearing down and completely redeveloping the property (essentially the 2021 RFP).
While that RFP was in process, the DIA could have been working to try to attract the tenants on the above list to see what it would take to get them there. It's actually something I had been posting on here about for years and that is the creation of a Best of Jax type food hall downtown (The Landing or elsewhere). Think about it. What would have been the easiest way to attract Safe Harbor, Cinnotti's, Picasso's, etc downtown? The offer of an existing building that already has grease traps, kitchens, and simply just needs an interior buildout. Rather than wasting incentive money on trying to lure restaurants to sites not restaurant ready, the City could have used the same incentives to offer favorable leases to all those desirable tenants. The City could have even had a revenue share built into the lease (something I also posted about back then). Essentially you offer low rent and then get a portion of revenue once the tenant hits a high sales number. This is obviously very appealing for tenants, as they only pay if they are successful.
Had the DIA done the above, the City would have made a much more informed decision about the long term fate of The Landing. If it had commitments from 5 restaurants on the above list, would the City have still torn it down? If the results of the study came back and said that it would cost more (and take longer) to redesign a new park with shell buildings than it would to create the same amenities with an adapted/modified Landing, would the City have still torn it down?
I know Boyer was late to the show and cannot come close to taking all the blame, but I do think she could have greatly changed the outcome if she had shaken things up. I bet an outsider wouldn't have been so afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Additionally, Boyer can take sole responsibility for the DIA not coming up with an interim plan to fill The Landing space with a temporary use. It's been 3.25 years since I posted that the DIA should look to do something like this until park construction is done. These concepts are so low frills that they could be shifted around on site during construction and it would have given poor Kenny a place other than Jimmy Johns to eat.
https://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,37072.0.html