The city issued a permit April 2 for The Haskell Co. to build the Jacksonville Riverfront Plaza Cafe shell Downtown at a project cost of $3.5 million at the site of the former Jacksonville Landing.
Interior work will be permitted when a tenant is chosen.
The 5,171-square-foot building is planned on 7.45 acres at 2 Independent Drive W.
Perkins & Will, selected by the city in July 2021 as part of a request for proposals and competition to design the public space, is listed as the cafe architect. The city owns the property.
Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer has helped lead the park planning along with city Parks, Recreation and Community Service and Public Works departments and local nonprofit groups.
She said June 6 that the cafe building will have leasable space with a coffee shop-restaurant and park office. The cafe will be on the north side of the park near the intersection of Laura Street and Independent Drive.
The design by Perkins & Will places Riverfront Plaza’s playground on the rooftop of the cafe building. Boyer called it “an integral part” of the park’s first phase of construction.
The DIA board voted 7-1 on Feb. 21 to continue planning a waterfront restaurant in the southwest quadrant of Riverfront Plaza, south of where the cafe shell will be built.
Board Chair Jim Citrano Jr. was the lone vote against Resolution 2024-02-02 because a restaurant built along the river at the site would obstruct the view of the St. Johns River.
“I think this is the wrong portion of the site to put an enclosed structure,” Citrano said.
Before the resolution was discussed, several members of the public spoke against the restaurant proposal. Several representatives of JAX Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee spoke in favor of it.
Boyer said the Florida Department of Transportation is finalizing designs for a proposed pedestrian connection to the park from the Main Street bridge.
City Council approved $27.25 million in fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23 as part of its five-year Capital Improvement Plan to pay for the design and construction of the park.
That did not include funding for the art centerpiece, which Perkins & Will estimated in 2021 could cost up to $18 million.
This story has been updated to clarify the rendering information.