Panera Bread is considering a Southside Boulevard location on a vacant lot south of Baymeadows Road, records show.
As the applicant, Atlanta-based GreenbergFarrow sought a service availability letter July 25 from JEA for the site.
Fifth Third Bank owns the 1-acre site between Walgreens and AutoZone.
Jacksonville-based Peter Sleiman Development Group is interested in the property. The city issued a mobility fee calculation certificate for a retail project there proposed by the group.
The city calculated a fee of $104,211 to mitigate the traffic impact for a proposed 6,246-square-foot retail-restaurant building on the site at 8325 Southside Blvd. at southeast Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road.
According to Netleaseadvisor.com, the average Panera Bread size is about 4,500 square feet on 1 to 1.5 acres. That indicates that Panera could be one of two tenants in the building.
GreenbergFarrow, an architecture, planning, engineering and development services firm, also was the agent for the conversion of a former Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar at 13201 Atlantic Blvd. into Panera Bread.
Almost 20 Panera Bread restaurants operate in Northeast Florida with more expected.
Panera operates a restaurant nearby within the Baymeadows Village shopping center at 9810 Baymeadows Road.
Panera has been leaving some of its inline stores for new or converted standalone structures with drive-thrus, often built nearby.