An uncleared lot in Middleburg could give rise to a two-story retail and restaurant development.
Many details are undecided for the Clay County project, but two elements are confirmed by a project partner: a restaurant with a drive-thru and a cigar lounge.
The site is about 2 acres and borders Armstrong Way to the west, Resilience Way to the north and Canaveral Trace to the east.
Civil plans show the proposed building could be 10,000 to 12,000 square feet over two floors, with 83 parking spaces.
Dinesh Patel is a partner. His family owns the land through Nyara Shanti LLC. He said rooftop seating also is under consideration.
Emirio Design LLC of Beaverton, Oregon, is the civil engineer. Jacksonville-based The Herron Group is the contractor. Patel said an architect has not been selected.
“We’ve been planning to develop the property with something like this for a while, but we got busy with other projects. Now our focus is on this one,” he said.
Those projects, he said, include operating the Golden Ox Liquor chain owned by his extended family. There are five locations in Northeast Florida. The family also owns cigar lounges in Tampa and Orlando.
“We’ve been busy, but we are going to do something there,” Patel said, referring to the Middleburg site.
“We’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”
As for the restaurant, nothing is decided, he said. With partners currently overseas, the decision on whether to run it themselves or to hire a third party is on hold until they return.
Patel emphasized that a lot could change between the project’s conception and execution.
The Clay County Development Review Committee is scheduled to hear the project Aug. 14.