NFL veteran Laveraneus Coles Jr.'s new Levels restaurant Downtown could open in February, pending approvals for the permits as well as expected reviews by the city's Downtown Development Review Board.
Its food focus is expected to be gourmet hamburgers, according to architect John Allmand.
Allmand, president of JAA Architecture, said the almost 110-year-old, three-level structure at 323-325 E. Bay St. will need to add a stairway in the front interior.
"We are going to have to have major structural renovation," Allmand said, for the former office building to handle the business and customer traffic as a restaurant.
Allmand, who has been working with Coles, said the ground level will include a bar that he describes as a "relaxed atmosphere." The second floor will be more of a small music venue, while the basement will accommodate storage and offices.
"It's a beautiful old building," Allmand said.
"One of the things we had chatted with Mr. Coles about is to be honest with the materials that are existing in the building — having exposed brick, having heavy timber columns," Allmand said.
Allmand said he has been consulting with Jacksonville Planning and Development Department Director Calvin Burney about the changes.
"We would like to add a couple of awnings out front that are different. And because we have that front stair, we have to take up one of the bays where the windows are, so there will be some changes," Allmand said.
The Downtown Development Review Board is part of the mayor's Office of Economic Development. It reviews Downtown projects for adherence to master-plan and zoning rules.
Allmand said the project might be submitted by the next meeting, but said he was seeking Burney's advice.
Monica Landeros, public communications officer for Mayor Alvin Brown, issued a statement Monday: "The mayor supports Downtown and is pleased to hear that a member of our local football community is interested in investing in Downtown.
"We look forward to learning more about the project as it proceeds through our review process," she said.
Allmand said a contractor could be chosen this week. A soft opening in February would be followed by a grand opening in March.
Allmand declined to estimate the cost of the project and said he wasn't in a position to identify the restaurateurs with whom Coles is discussing the operations.
"He has been talking with some restaurateurs and partnerships with restaurants around town. It's going to be a full-service restaurant," Allmand said.
He didn't know the hours of operation.
As reported by the Daily Record on Oct. 29, Coles paid $750,000 for the building at 323-325 E. Bay St. He bought the vacant structure through Past Trouble LLC from 325 East Bay Street LLC, whose manager is Insetta Family Properties LLC. Insetta Family Properties issued a $640,000 mortgage the day of the purchase to Past Trouble, records show.
The Insetta family operates the popular Black Sheep and Orsay restaurants in Riverside and previously operated Chew at 117 W. Adams St. Downtown.
The 16,068-square-foot 323 E. Bay St. building was developed in 1904. Its use is commercial, residential and office and its heated area is 10,677 square feet. It was renovated in 1982 with improvements that included elevator, electrical, plumbing and some structural work.
The building has a 5,000-square-foot basement that is air-conditioned and would be serviced by the elevator.
It is near Olio and Mark's, along a street front of restaurants and lounges.
Coles has acknowledged the purchase, and writes about his plans on his Facebook page, but he hasn't been available for an interview.
Coles, 35, lives in St. Johns County.
He is a Jacksonville native and played football at Ribault High School and then Florida State University before spending 11 seasons with the NFL. Coles played with the New York Jets, the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals, ending his career with the Jets in 2010.
Allmand said investors like Coles are needed for Downtown redevelopment.
"He is a Jacksonville native and he came back after his football career to make a home here," Allmand said.
"What's exciting to me is as a successful businessman and leader in the community, somebody would come back and make that investment in the community," he said.
Allmand, whose office is in the Elks Building Downtown, said investors like Cole are needed "to take that financial risk to make something happen Downtown."
"It's going to take a lot of that to get Jacksonville's Downtown where we need to be," he said.
Land sold for Moe's in River City Marketplace
Ramco Duval TRS LLC sold River City Marketplace property Thursday to Parkway OL4 Investors LLC, led by Brad Chasteen, president and CEO of Welcome to Moe's Inc.
The $1 million property purchase was accompanied by a $1.92 million mortgage to Parkway from Branch Banking and Trust Co.
The Daily Record reported Nov. 1 that Moe's Southwest Grill was planning a restaurant in River City Marketplace in North Jacksonville.
The Angelo Group is listed on a permit application as the contractor for an almost 5,000-square-foot shell building at a construction cost of $600,000.
The Moes.com site shows at least a dozen area locations.
Julington Creek Fish Camp work continues
Tenant build-out was approved for Bosco Building Contractors Inc. to renovate the first floor of the restaurant building at 12760 San Jose Blvd. for Julington Creek Fish Camp. The project cost is $150,000 for the 3,000-square-foot project.
Bosco also is the contractor for the renovations underway on the rest of the two-story project. That permit was approved in August at a project cost of $750,000.
Publix renovating stores
Two Publix Super Markets Inc. stores are preparing for renovations.
The city issued a permit for Publix to renovate the interior of its store at 4320 Deerwood Lake Parkway in the Tinseltown area. HGR Construction Inc. will renovate the 43,840-square-foot space at a project cost of $780,830.
And the city also OK'd a sign for Publix to cover its Publix sign faces at Cobblestone Crossing with a "Publix Coming Soon" sign while the building is remodeled. The building at 2771 Monument Road in the Fort Caroline area is slated for demolition and reconstruction in 2014.
The new store will be 53,785 square feet, about 9,000 square feet larger than the existing store, plans show.
Smashburger plans to expand in Jacksonville
Denver-based Smashburger announced Monday it was expanding its "better burger" restaurant concept by adding four new franchise partners and one of those groups, Two Spurs LLC, will debut 18 Smashburger restaurants in Jacksonville and Orlando. The Two Spurs partners are Ray Ruiz and Wellesley Bromfield, both former McDonald's franchisees. No sites were specified. The other three groups are in Atlanta, Oakland, Calif., and Charlotte, N.C.
"We are pleased to expand our growing national footprint with the addition of four talented new franchise partners that are well qualified to introduce Smashburger's better burgers and premium hospitality experience to consumers in new cities," said Smashburger CEO Scott Crane.
Licensed to serve
Duval County Tax Collector Michael Corrigan issued business licenses to:
• Minggle City Café LLC, 119 W. Adams St., to Leon D. Coleman.
• Pita Pit, 491 W. Forsyth St., to Alesha LLC.
• China 1 Jacksonville Liu Inc., 13170 Atlantic Blvd., to Bi Xuan Liu.
• Public House Inc., 10915 Baymeadows Road, to Hubert Zachary.
• Chan's Chinese Beach Inc., 35 N. 11th St. St., Jacksonville Beach, to Jia Ying Xue.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill of Colorado LLC, 790 Skymarks Drive, to Victor Perez Jr.
Construction permits
• Simply Taste Thai, 2292 Mayport Road, No. 7, contractor is Ash Properties Inc.
• Buttercream & Moonbeams, 12200 San Jose Blvd., No. 20, contractor is Giles-McIvor Inc.
• Firehouse Subs, 1620 Margaret St., No. 105, contractor is BTD Contracting LLC.
• The EZ Grill, 6675 Arlington Road, contractor is Bennett's Quality Construction.
Food bites
Food-related businesses filed names recently with the state Division of Corporations under the Fictitious Name Law to operate:
• JC's Seafood #3, 4414 Moncrief Road, to Mowafak Malih.
• Trio's International Grille Inc., 614 Pecan Park Road, at the Pecan Park Flea Market.
• The Gastro Gnome Food Truck, 1226 Cherry St., to Robert Field.
• Saigon Pho Bistro, 1935 Florida A1A S., St. Augustine, to VIP Juice Bar Inc.
• Centro Restaurant and Piano Bar, 17 King St., St. Augustine, to Nonna's Trattoria Inc.
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