After years of emptiness, there’s life in the Bostwick Building.
The familiar jaguar-painted windows for now are covered by black-and-white displays teasing the elusive “cowfish” and a glimpse of what’s to come in summer 2016.
It will be the Cowford Chophouse, a high-end steak and seafood restaurant and rooftop lounge Downtown advocates are hoping is an integral part of the area’s comeback.
It’s a revitalization that started before the chophouse idea came onto the scene, said Jacques Klempf, lead partner in the business venture. Still, he acknowledged Tuesday morning the pursuit was a “leap of faith.”
Klempf and business partner Fraser Burns were among those on hand for the celebration, of sorts, a way to recognize the patience and effort needed to make it this far. Exterior work will start in May after the group received its certificate of appropriateness last week.
The news conference also served as the chance to announce the Klempf group’s new name, Forking Amazing Restaurants, comprising the chophouse, Ovinte at the St. Johns Town Center and Bistro Aix in San Marco.
The building is the first renovation project overseen by the Downtown Investment Authority.
The group purchased the building via auction for more than $165,000 in July, months after the city foreclosed on the structure. The group had tried to buy the building from the Bostwick family for much of 2013, but those negotiations fell through.
Overall, the more than $6 million venture will create 50-plus jobs when it opens.
The group has received early approval for $750,000 in public funding. Of that, the Downtown Economic Development Trust Fund — an economic tool of the DIA — would supply a $250,000 loan.
The remaining $500,000 would come from the Downtown Historic Revitalization Trust Fund, which would be used to restore the building’s historic traits. City Council still has to sign off on that, with legislation expected in the coming weeks, DIA CEO Aundra Wallace said.
Mayor Alvin Brown called the restoration of the building a “pivotal moment for Downtown Jacksonville” given that it’s a highly visible entry point to the urban core.
In danger of demolition being sought by the Bostwick family, Brown said the city “couldn’t let that happen.”
Instead the foreclosure was filed the day after council approved it as a historic landmark and denied the demolition.
The window panels of the recognizable jaguars are being protected by the coverings, Klempf said, and will be returned to artist Jim Draper later.
In its place will be a recognizable restaurant, known for the cowfish.