Owners of The Jacksonville Landing denounced the city of Jacksonville on Saturday for trying to seize the iconic copper-roofed shopping mall on the downtown riverfront.
Sleiman Enterprises in an email sent to the Times-Union fired back at the city, which issued a letter Friday terminating the company’s lease. Promising to see the city in court, the company also took a swipe at Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and other city leaders.
“The city’s letter purporting to terminate the Landing lease is a non-event. It’s a desperate attempt to disrespect and circumvent the legal system where we’ve already filed in court to prove the city, not Sleiman Enterprises, is the defaulting party, ” the company said.
The Landing opened to great fanfare in 1987 but has lost a spate of tenants and faced harsh criticism by city lawyers for shortcomings ranging from excessive vacancies to “unpleasant smells.”
The letter sent by city lawyers to the Landing’s owners said the city was immediately cancelling the long-term lease for the city-owned land on which the mall sits.
The letter also demanded Jacksonville Landing Investments LLC turn over the buildings, ratcheting up the legal pressure in a battle between the city and the Sleiman family over the Landing’s fate.
Sent by the city General Counsel’s Office, the letter said that after the city notified the owners on Oct. 17 that they were in breach of the lease, Jacksonville Landing Investments failed to bring the property into compliance within the 30 days provided by the lease agreement. The city then declared the owners in default.
Toney Sleiman, the developer who leads the ownership group, blames the city for the mall’s condition. The company accuses Curry of bullying tactics.
“We are disappointed in the continued bullying tactics by Mayor Curry and his administration that do not seek a mutually agreeable resolution for the benefit of Jacksonville’s taxpayers on this ongoing dispute,” Sleiman Enterprises said in its email.
Sleiman Enterprises said the city is responsible for “the unfortunate state” of the shopping mall. The company also said the city agreed in the lease agreement to provide three primary items to make the The Landing successful: security, access and maintenance.
“It has provided none of these,” the company said. In addition, the company asserts the city hasn’t answered its October 2017 complaint accusing the city of being in breach of contract.
“We’ll have our day in court and we’re looking forward to the truth coming out,” the company said in its email, which also rebuked city leaders.
“It’s a shame that our downtown — and our city — will never reach its full potential due to its lack of real leadership. We need leadership that doesn’t depend on political power plays, bullying others and disingenuous actions,” the company said.
After the city put the owners on notice last October that they failed to run a “high-quality, first-class retail facility” as required by the city’s lease of the land, Sleiman Investments filed suit in November contending the city failed to hold up its end of the lease and has intentionally hurt the viability of the mall.
That lawsuit is still pending in state court.