by Tammy Taylor
Staff Writer
Cady & Cady Studios, a Lake City-based photography and imaging studio, is moving into the old Cafe Athena space.
The company bought the building, located at 45 W. Bay St., for $1.125 million.
The current tenants, The Nature Conservancy, Daniel James Salon and Gittings, Schueth & Grunthal Real Estate Services, Inc., will remain in the building, and the photography studio will occupy the rest of the space.
Lynn Johnson and Lita Cerni of Coldwell Banker Commercial handled the deal, which started to come together in December 2003.
“We’re excited about the deal. It’s a great thing,” said Johnson. “They’re going to spend a lot of money, and it is great for downtown.”
Cady & Cady Studios, which has another location in Mandarin, offers senior portraits, school portraits, yearbook photos and imaging. The new downtown location will be the company’s flagship studio, and will primarily be a senior photography studio, offering “high-end portraiture in a contemporary environment,” said owner Josh Cady.
Before moving into the space on Bay Street, a complete remodeling will take place. According to Cady, approximately $700,000 will be spent over eight months to have the studio ready for an early 2005 opening.
Cady said downtown revitalization and financial incentives were factors in the move.
“We saw a movement to downtown,” said Cady, “and it is centrally located to schools in Jacksonville.”
Cady anticipates the new studio will bring 7,000 to 10,000 high school seniors a year downtown.
“High school seniors can take their pictures and then spend the day in downtown,” said Cady. “They can go to the Landing and experience the planned Bay Street Town Center. They will spend money downtown.”
The move will also expand background choices for senior portraits.
“We will offer an elite session that will be done on the roof,” said Cady, which will allow the Jacksonville skyline to be featured in the portraits.
Cady & Cady Studios has 16 employees in its Mandarin office and plans to have a 30 percent increase once the downtown studio opens.
Josh Cady and his father started the business in 1986 in Lake City. They expanded to Mandarin in 1998.