The City approved construction Wednesday for Moxie Kitchen & Cocktails at 4972 Big Island Drive in The Markets at Town Center, next to the St. Johns Town Center.
Auld & White Constructors LLC is the contractor for the $2.19 million project. It also was the contractor for the $80,000 foundation project.
The two-story, 7,066-square-foot restaurant will include indoor and outdoor seating and an expo area for food preparation.
Chef Tom Gray is developing Moxie Kitchen & Cocktails on a site not far from the Brio Tuscan Grille and near the proposed Nordstrom Rack retail store. The full-line upscale Nordstrom also is planned nearby.
Plans show the first floor of 5,080 square feet of space will include dining, private dining, two patio seating areas, a kitchen and expo area, restrooms and an office.
The second floor of 1,986 square feet features a bar, dining area, terrace seating and restrooms.
As reported in December, Rocca Restaurant LLC, a company led by Gray, paid $1.7 million for property in The Markets at Town Center.
Rocca Restaurant LLC's managing member is TGRG LLC, whose managing member is Thomas R. Gray. Gray, as president of Rocca Restaurant LLC, signed the documents.
Regions Bank made a $2.8 million mortgage dated Dec. 20 to Rocca Restaurant Inc.
The Daily Record reported in November that Gray, a founding partner and executive chef of Bistro AIX since it opened in 1991, was moving on to open a new venture.
The moxiefl.com site says the restaurant will open this year.