5. Replace Retail with Cultural Uses

The former Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center at the Landing in 2011.

If all else fails, there are other options that may be suitable for large sections of the festival marketplace complex. After all, the Landing isn’t the only 1980s-era Rouse festival marketplace requiring a change in leasing strategy as time has gone on.

Imagination Station in downtown Toledo. Courtesy of Google Streetview.

After Toledo’s Portside Festival Marketplace failed, it was converted into a hands-on science museum called Imagination Station. In recent years, the time for a remake has even impacted Baltimore’s popular Harborplace festival marketplace. In 2012, to overcome rising retail vacancies, a deal was inked with Orlando-based Ripley’s Believe It or Not! to consume 12,500-square-feet in Harborplace’s Light Street Pavilion. For those desiring to see an aquarium downtown, considering the malaise associated with the Shipyards forever pending redevelopment, this might be your best chance!

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is a newcomer to Baltimore’s Harborplace.

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com