JOHN E. MUELLER

Hey, everyone, Happy New Year! May 2006 be the year of tower power. I'm surprised that, throughout all this talk, I haven't read anything more about the city using part of the Downtown Plaza land for the new City Hall/Circuit Court/School Admin bldg complex. I thought at one time (unless I dreamed the whole thing) that due to the need for new pretty much everything, that this would be a good site, freeing up the land currently occupied by the current complex for office towers, hotels, and residences. The land closer to the river and the CDB seems a bit more prime. Of course, I suppose they'd have to move the jail, too.... Have I missed the boat on this one?

I, too, wonder whether Parisian would go for a store at Town Center and one in Norfolk. And why not MacArthur if in Norfolk? If it were to go up on Granby and Brambleton, would it be a stand-alone store? When my folks lived in Sarasota, they opened a Parisian there (in a mall), and it was very Nordstrom-like, with a pianist playing a baby grand while you shopped. It only lasted a couple of years before it closed and Dillards took over the building. It was sad. I really liked that store. Sarasota also has the tinyist Saks I've ever seen. It's about the size of one floor of our Nordstrom. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Are we sure it's clothing retail, or could it be something like Crate and Barrel? I remember scuttlebut about them coming to downtown a couple of years ago. Or maybe IKEA or Home Expo? Nah, they stick to the biggest markets. My curiosity is piqued. The housing boom downtown might need something like that.