Habit Burger & Grill is cleared to build-out in South Jacksonville at a closed Bojangles restaurant at 13559 Beach Blvd. at northwest Beach and Hodges boulevards.
The city issued a permit May 6 for Falcon Franchise Construction LLC of Fort Lauderdale to convert the 3,875-square-foot freestanding restaurant and drive-thru on a 0.83-acre site at a cost of $715,518.
The city issued a permit April 8 for landscaping and site work at a project cost of $10,000. The site is near the Beach Haven area.
The Beach Boulevard property owner is shown on a building permit site as JLR Hodges Station LLC. The architect is Lingle Design Group of Lena, Illinois.
Habit Burger & Grill said in November it is opening in Jacksonville in the second half of 2025 because the area’s food culture is growing, with an interest in comfort foods and innovative dishes.
That is “making it a welcoming spot for a Habit Burger & Grill restaurant,” the company said in an email.
“We’ve got Habit Burger & Grills sprinkled across the Sunshine State, and we’re pumped to fire up the grill in Jacksonville,” said chef Jason Triail, director of Culinary Innovation at Habit Burger & Grill, in an email Nov. 7.
Habit Burger said it will hire about 40 people.
There are 12 Habit Burger & Grill locations in Florida, mainly in South Florida with one in Clearwater. There is a 13th coming soon to St. Petersburg.
The Jacksonville restaurant will be owned by the company and is not a franchise.
North Jacksonville location
Plans for the area’s second identified Habit Burger & Grill site are taking shape near River City Marketplace on land next to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse at 15022 Max Leggett Parkway.
Municipal utility JEA has been reviewing a service availability determination request submitted April 25 for a 2,063-square-foot building with a mobile pickup lane on a 0.8-acre site owned by BJ’s Restaurant.
The project comprises the 30-seat restaurant and a drive-thru lane that can stack at least 10 vehicles. Surface parking for 27 vehicles is allocated for Habit Burger, but additional parking is available on the shared lot with BJ’s Restaurant.
Commercial Development Resources of Costa Mesa, California, is the applicant. Habit Burger & Grill is a chain based in Irvine, California.
The St. Johns River Water Management District received a pre-application March 10 for an environmental resource permit for “Habit Burger, Max Leggett.”
BJ’s Restaurant Inc. of Huntington Beach, California, owns the site, which is at Max Leggett Parkway and Skymarks Drive. The property is east of Interstate 95.
Jacksonville Beach-based Florida Retail Group has been marketing the “surplus pad site” as available for lease, showing it can accommodate up to a 4,200-square-foot building. It is an outparcel of Parkway Shops and BJ’s Restaurant.
The HabitBurger.com site says the company began in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969 and “has been chargrilling California’s freshest flavors for over half a century.”
It says its menu features freshly chargrilled burgers, chicken and tuna “all cooked-to-order over an open flame.”
It also has salads and shakes.