Jacksonville Landing
Southeast view of the Jacksonville Landing, c. July 2016 | |
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°19′30″N 81°39′35″W / 30.3250°N 81.6598°W |
| Address | 2 W. Independent Drive, 32202 |
| Opening date | June 25, 1987 |
| Closing date | May 31, 2019 (last remaining tenants) July 5, 2019 (mall interior) |
| Demolished | October 8, 2019–January 2020 |
| Developer | The Rouse Co. (Rouse-Jacksonville, Inc.) |
| Management | City of Jacksonville |
| Owner | City of Jacksonville |
| Architect | Benjamin Thompson and Associates, Inc. and Hans Strauch |
| Stores and services | 65+ (at peak) ~0 as of July 2019 |
| Floor area | 126,000 square feet (11,700 m2) |
| Floors | 2 |
| Website | jacksonvillelanding.com (2013 Wayback Machine archive) |
Building details | |
The iconic Friendship Fountain and the Jacksonville Landing at night in May 2018 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Defunct; redeveloped as Riverfront Plaza |
| Type | Festival marketplace (1987–1991) Shopping mall (1991–2019) |
| Construction started | May 1986 |
| Completed | 1987 |
The Jacksonville Landing (informally The Landing) was a horseshoe-shaped festival marketplace in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida that combined an open-air environment with an enclosed shopping mall, at the intersection of Independent Drive and Laura Street, along the Jacksonville Riverwalk. It was developed by The Rouse Company for $37.5 million and opened in 1987.
The 126,000 square feet (11,706 m2) center was comparable to New York City's South Street Seaport Festival Marketplace, Baltimore's Harborplace, Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace, and Miami's Bayside Marketplace (which was also in Florida and opened two months before the Landing) all developed by Rouse. Jacksonville Landing was the last festival marketplace developed by The Rouse Company from scratch before they discontinued the concept in 1987 and shifted exclusively to renovating existing structures into festival marketplaces and developing mixed-use centers.
Following three decades of high vacancies (1991–2019), ownership mismanagement (2018–2019), and a general decline of the "festival marketplace" model, the Landing struggled inevitably as a premier shopping center. The facility closed its doors after July 4th celebrations, and demolition began on October 8, 2019. The site today is now urban green space, known as Riverfront Plaza (informally The Lawnding), at 333 Jacksonville Landing, the address being named after the former mall.