By Karen Brune Mathis, [email protected]
Any day now, Brooks Busey expects to sign a lease for a restaurant at his new development at Sadler Point Marine Center in Jacksonville’s Westside.
That restaurant, which he declines to identify pending the lease, will launch The Bridge, an 18,000-square-foot former furniture and marine retail store to be converted into retail, office and restaurant space.
The property sits next to Sadler Point Marina at 4669 Roosevelt Blvd., along the Ortega River behind Roosevelt Square.
Busey has been thinking about it for about 17 years, since he started working at the marina property under its former owner.
“I’ve been here since 1999 and have wanted to do something with this space,” he said.
Sadler Point Marina Inc., led by Busey, includes his dad, lawyer Stephen Busey, and his sister, Durell Myers.
The group bought the marina in January 2002, then the retail store in June 2010, which had been operating for years as the Pier 17 and Ship’s Locker nautical store. The building was developed in 1964.
After owner Grace Rogers died in 2009, her daughter, Cynthia Segraves, continued to operate a store there. After Busey’s group bought the property, Segraves still leased space but closed as retailers faced growing competition with online sales.
Busey relocated one retailer into the marina office and then gutted the building as he worked on plans to convert it into what now is called The Bridge.
Running a marina and being involved in waterfront commerce and events, Busey traveled to other coastal cities to see what others were able to do with their working waterfront.
“My goal was to capture a little of that,” he said.
The facade has been upgraded and is largely glass, with rollup doors. The interior is wide open, with a few boats for sale in the front.
Busey said the space, whose design has been changing, now is expected to have restaurants at both ends.
The rest of it will comprise retail storefronts and smaller spaces for offices around the perimeter, with a common-area space in the center. That area will include restrooms, conference rooms and other amenities.
“We wanted to try to create a sense of community with this space,” he said.
He said the building could accommodate about 10 tenants in addition to the restaurants. Busey said he has four letters of intent, which includes one of the restaurants.
He envisions the storefronts not just as retail stores, but also as workshops. Tenants could be marine-oriented, but don’t have to be.
Two tenant examples could be a boat builder that hosts workshops or a paddleboard outfitter that would sell and lease.
The first restaurant could be about 4,300 square feet and the second could be that size or smaller, he said.
The single-story structure was built to add a second level, which he said makes it conducive to include rooftop bar and restaurant space.
Busey said the restaurants haven’t decided whether to use the rooftop. His group will decide other possible uses, too. Another thought is to make some of the marina slips available for restaurant customers.
Parking is also being figured out. The second restaurant means more spaces are needed. Sadler Point is seeking a zoning administrative deviation to allow additional offsite parking to be counted.
Busey said the marina uses space nearby under the Roosevelt Boulevard bridge for additional parking and wants to see about counting that.
The deviation application says the Florida Department of Transportation has leased space to the property owners “and seems willing to lease more.”
Sadler Point Marina also asks to reduce the minimum landscape requirements at the frontage along Roosevelt Boulevard and Lakeside Drive.
Busey said his group already redesigned the entrance and poured new concrete around the landscaping soon after buying the property.
The first restaurant is one with several locations in another city. Busey also declined to identify the second, which is a local operation that must relocate due to redevelopment of its site.
Outside, another idea is to host farmers’ markets and waterfront-related events, fundraisers, boat shows and paddleboard regattas.
Busey would like to have some tenants in and open by year-end.
The investment is reaching about $1.5 million. Sadler Point Marina bought The Bridge property for $450,000 and Busey expects at least a $1 million investment in the build-out.
The architect is the Office of Architecture and Design and the contractor will be Benchmark Commercial Group Inc.
The Bridge would actually be the first phase of redevelopment. After it is operating and generating cash flow, Busey wants to update other aspects of the marina property.
“It’s a function of putting all the pieces together. We’ve been on the cusp,” he said.