The Downtown Investment Authority approved incentives June 18 for a new restaurant and cocktail option along Bay Street.
On an 7-0 vote, the board gave final approval to providing $215,000 in public funding for Besa Bakery and Tea Room Speakeasy at 301 E. Bay St.
The owners of the Decca Live music and dance nightspot at 323 E. Bay St. are developing Besa through 323 E. Bay Street LLC in partnership with Illyria Properties 6 LLC.
In DIA documents, the developers describe the establishment as a “modern European style bakery by day and an elevated dessert and cocktail lounge by night…with a refined, full-display bakery counter and a cozy Tea Room Speakeasy.”
In May 2025, the DIA board approved a $200,000 incentive for another Decca Live project, the proposed Keane’s Irish Pub at 315 E. Bay St.
The Besa space neighbors the pub location to the west.
Incentives for Besa will come through the Retail Enhancement Program Targeted Retail Activation: Food and Beverage Establishments Grant (FAB-REP), and a $15,000 forgivable loan under the Sidewalk Enhancement Grant Program.
A staff report for the project lists menu items such as an array of croissants starting at $4.95, cannoli at $6.95 for two, tiramisu for $8.95, and pizzas from $13.95 to $16.95.
The establishment will occupy a 3,590-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Churchwell Lofts building, named for a proprietor who used it to sell dry goods, shoes and notions beginning in the 1920s. The building was constructed in 1905.
Total bakery build-out costs are listed at $550,000 in a DIA term sheet on the project.
Both the FAB-REP and sidewalk enhancement incentives will be structured as forgivable, no-interest loans amortizing at 20% annually for five years providing that the establishment remains in operation continually during that time.