Leonardo's Pizza nears its end

Leonardo's Pizza seems to have been around forever. It is certainly a Gainesville institution, however, all good things must come to an end. As West University Avenue gets revamped, it will be losing its Leonardo's By the Slice landmark.

Located just east of Southwest 13th Street, Leonardo's was recently purchased by the University of Florida Foundation. The university has yet to determine how it will use the quarter-acre property, but for now Leonardo's will stay open at least until the summer of 2017.

Leonardos’ owner, Steve Solomon, initiated the sale, as the 69-year-old businessman is looking to scale back. He plans to focus more of his efforts on Leonardo's 706,  which is located at 706 West University Avenue, which is also the original site of Leonardo's By the Slice. There are also talks of integrating the current Leonardo's By the Slice and the adjacent Bistro 1245 into operations at Leonardo's 706.

While ultimately this is a great transaction that will prove to be good for Leonardo's as well as the University of Florida, it will be odd not to see Leonardo's By the Slice on the University Avenue lineup. The pizzeria, which opened in 1973, has been a mainstay and go-to pizza joint for college students, faculty and Gainesville residents alike.

Even though By the Slice will be gone, future plans for the site are sure to be promising and great, as Gainesville only continues to get better and better. For more details on the sale and what is to come, read the full article at Gainesville.com.