by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
After two decades of offering downtown Jacksonville’s only Spanish-American cuisine, Ed Marcial is closing his doors, perhaps for good.
Marcial, owner of Ed’s Spanish-American Cookery in the Blackstone Building, has been in a lengthy financial dispute with Blackstone Building, Inc. over his association fees. That dispute came to an apparent end last week when the utilities at the restaurant were shut off, forcing Marcial to close his popular restaurant.
Mike McCullough, president of Blackstone Building Inc., said his board regrets the decision but didn’t have much choice.
“It’s inappropriate for us to suggest we’ll negotiate through the press,” said McCullough. “I will say it’s a difficult situation because primarily the facts are not altogether pleasant.”
About a year ago Marcial moved his restaurant from a smaller location farther west on Bay Street to the Blackstone location. He said the move allowed him to expand and go from tenant to owner. However, Marcial said the $3,000 a month in association fees (the Blackstone consists of several condominiums and commercial space owned by the businesses — all of whom pay to belong to the Blackstone association) became too much.
“It’s gotten to the point where I’m paying $45,000 a year to be in the Blackstone Building,” he said. “There are a lot of assessments that I have paid for. I’m owed money for the problems I fixed when I moved in, like the sprinklers. I didn’t even know there was a problem with them until I moved in.”
McCullough said the association fees are based on a complicated formula that is based primarily on square footage.
“We don’t differentiate with respect to the user or the owner,” said McCullough. “We pay the power and water — the utilities. They are a vast majority of the assessments. We have a disagreement with him [Marcial]. We are not a bank. The owners are expected to run their businesses in a reasonable, productive manner. We are not a resource to make loans. As much as we’d like to help Ed, we can’t. I think Ed is a benefit to the building and we’d like to see him meet his financial obligation.”
Marcial, who is quite bitter over the recent development, said he will probably get out of the restaurant business at this point.
“Right now, I’m totally out of business. If I can’t operate here, I’ll go bankrupt,” said Marcial, adding he’s very disappointed to be leaving downtown when the area is on the verge of coming back. “I don’t think I’ll stay downtown. This is where my career ends. I always wanted to be a part of the revitalization effort downtown. My base is here, my clients are here — the judges and lawyers. I always had a dream of being down here.”
McCullough said what happens to the space isn’t decided by his group but rather the bank that owns it, and they’ll have to negotiate with Marcial first to resolve the matter.