Chick-fil-A is nearing construction for a larger restaurant in Tinseltown as the city issued a permit June 10 for demolition of the closed Wild Wing Cafe.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Inc. intends to redevelop that property and relocate from a smaller restaurant nearby.
Realco Recycling Co. Co. Inc. of Jacksonville will demolish the 7,061-square-foot Wild Wing Cafe building at 4555 Southside Blvd. in Deerwood Park North, a commercial center that is known as Tinseltown for its movie-theater anchor. The permit shows a job cost of $2,400.
The site is in South Jacksonville, between Beach and Butler boulevards.
Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. of Fort Lauderdale is the permitting agent.
The demolition permit is a necessary step before site work and construction can begin.
The city approved a site-clearing permit April 15 to clear the 1.96-acre property at a project cost of $750,000.
After that, the city issued a permit May 20 for W.H. Bass Inc. of Duluth, Georgia, to build the 5,000-square-foot restaurant at a project cost of $1.25 million. CCR Architecture & Interiors of Birmingham, Alabama, is the architect.
Chick-fil-A, a chicken sandwich and tenders chain, proposes to build the restaurant with a double drive-thru and canopies that cover the order and pickup points.
Plans show 62 seats inside and 16 outside.
There are 83 parking spaces and the drive-thru lanes are designed with a 25-car stack with the ability for 35 at peak times.
There also is a pending permit application for the order-point canopy at a project cost of $95,000.
The permit applications followed months of reviews.
The St. Johns River Water Management District reviewed a permit submitted July 5, 2023, for the site and the city issued a mobility fee calculation certificate May 3, 2023.
In May 2023, JEA service availability requests showed that Chick-fil-A wanted to redevelop the 7,081-square-foot Wild Wing Cafe with construction of a 5,433-square-foot, 78-seat Chick-fil-A restaurant with a drive-thru and outdoor dining area.
That indicated the Wild Wing Cafe building would be demolished.
Property records show the Wild Wing Cafe restaurant was built in 1998.
Chick-fil-A currently leases a 4,418-square-foot restaurant on 1.04 acres at 4461 Southside Blvd. that was built in 2000. It also has a double drive-thru.
Building records show the current Chick-fil-A was renovated in 2018.
Wild Wing Cafe property owner 4555 SSB LLC of Ponte Vedra is led by Michael Antonopoulos, who will lease the land to Chick-fil-A.
Antonopoulos signed a letter of authorization May 5, 2023, for Bowman Consulting and Chick-fil-A to act as the authorized agent and applicant for 4555 SSB LLC regarding the proposed redevelopment project and Chick-fil-A relocation.
Antonopoulos said in May 2023 he authorized Chick-fil-A to apply for what it needs to use the property for but did not elaborate beyond that.
The city calculated a mobility fee of $25,597 to mitigate the development impact of the project.