Wicked Barley Brewing Co. wants to tap into its proposed Baymeadows brewery.
“We are finally getting close to making Wicked Barley a physical reality after two years of planning and hard work,” said Tobin Turney, a partner in the brewery.
Turney said the total investment will be $2.5 million.
The city is reviewing a permit for WG Pitts Co. to build the project at 4100 Baymeadows Road.
The application shows a job cost of $1.65 million for the 7,260-square-foot building on 2.33 acres. Two-thirds of the space is dedicated to the brewery and the rest used for front-of-the-house operations, the tap room and dining.
It also will feature a beer garden and a covered deck overlooking Goodby’s Creek. It should seat about 130 people.
The property, at southeast Baymeadows Road and Goodby’s Creek, is a half-mile east of San Jose Boulevard.
Plans include a dock that would be accessible by boat. Turney said his group has an approved permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the St. Johns River Water Management District.
Partners are Turney, Philip Maple and Brett Baker. Maple’s father, Bob Maple, will come out of retirement to join the team in the brewery.
Turney said they expect it will take six to eight weeks for the building permit and construction would start soon after.
He said clearing should start by mid-July and the building should be completed by early next year, although the timeline will be better known after construction begins.
The brewery had been expected to open by the end of this year. Turney said new construction always is a challenge, “especially when it is your first project.”
“The biggest issue we faced was probably being overly optimistic,” he said.
Next time, he said, “we’ll under promise and over deliver.”
WesPac prepares for Dames Point LNG plant
WesPac Midstream LLC took the step of submitting site plans to the city for its proposed liquefied natural gas plant at Dames Point.
Kevin Worley, WesPac Midstream vice president of commercial development and manager of the Jacksonville project, said Tuesday the company forecasts completion in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company bought the 36-acre property, a former drywall manufacturing plant, in October for $11.75 million.
The property, at 9225 Dames Point Road, comprised several buildings. The largest, an almost 250,000-square-foot heavy manufacturing facility, was approved for demolition in March.
Worley said the warehouse structure was taken down and now the concrete slab is being removed.
Construction of the project will start when permits are approved. “We should be getting those shortly,” he said.
A contractor has not been chosen for construction. “We are doing our best to keep it local,” he said. “Our goal is to use as many local contractors as possible.”
Worley said the company does not divulge investment costs.
He said full-time employment should be 20-40 and could expand as business increases. He said the short-term jobs top 200 when construction, mechanical, engineering and site demolition work is considered.
The property is next to the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Dames Point Marine Terminal. WesPac bought the land from CertainTeed Gypsum and Ceiling Manufacturing Inc.
WesPac announced in January it and Pivotal LNG Inc. signed a long-term agreement to provide LNG to TOTE Inc. to fuel two new containerships.
A news release said WesPac and Pivotal, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc., are “addressing the growing demand for LNG in the southeast” by building the Jacksonville facility.
The Jacksonville site provides the capability to add natural gas liquefaction and LNG storage capacity to supply other Jacksonville and regional markets.
TOTE’s new dual-fuel “Marlin-class” containerships, the first in the world, are expected to be delivered to Jacksonville late this year and early next year to operate between Jacksonville and Puerto Rico. Both ships are powered by dual-fuel LNG engines.
Worley said the ships will be fueled with LNG trucked in from Macon, Ga., until the plant is operational.
The release said the LNG-powered ships will result in significant emissions reductions and will “greatly surpass the requirements” of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s clean-air regulations.
Boos sells San Marco Chase Bank
Boos Development Group Inc. of Clearwater sold the San Marco Chase Bank two weeks ago to a Brooklyn, N.Y., investor for $4.35 million.
Boos Development, through Boos-San Marco LLC, sold the building and parking lot, totaling two-thirds of an acre, at 1515 Atlantic Blvd.
VST Holdings I-18 LLC, led by Barry Haskell, bought the 5,451-square-foot bank and the parking lot, which is along Thacker Avenue.
A loopnet.com listing marketed the Chase Bank property for $4.62 million, highlighting the bank’s 20-year ground lease with 10 percent rent escalations every five years, with four five-year renewal options.
Wilson & Wilson Optical also leases space in the building.
The property is assessed at $2.2 million for tax purposes
Boos-San Marco LLC bought the property in late 2013 to develop the Chase Bank branch. It paid almost $2.2 million for the building, which was redeveloped, and the parking lot.
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