Plans are moving forward to transform an uncleared lot in Middleburg into a two-story building that would host a cigar bar, sit-down restaurant and drive-thru liquor store.
Called Armstrong Plaza, the project was confirmed in August 2025 by project manager Rinku Amin, who plans to develop the concepts with uncle and partner Dinesh Patel.
The site borders Armstrong Way to the west, Resilience Way to the north and Canaveral Trace to the east.
Plans have changed since the mixed-use project first was proposed last year.
When plans were submitted ahead of clearing the 2-acre site, Clay County insisted on reducing the building size from 12,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet to accommodate buffers and setbacks, Amin said.
Revised plans also include a switch to the cigar bar and restaurant.
In August, plans called for the cigar bar to be on the first level, with the restaurant on the second floor, possibly with outdoor seating.
New plans, Amin said, flip the concepts, with the cigar bar upstairs and the restaurant downstairs. The location change will simplify deliveries for the sit-down eatery and allow smoke to rise away from the building rather than into the restaurant, Amin said.
The liquor store remains unchanged.
Amin’s family owns the land through Nyara Shanti LLC. Jacksonville-based The Herron Group is the contractor. Emerio Design LLC of Beaverton, Oregon, is the civil engineer. Jacksonville-beach based Doherty Sommers Architects Engineers Inc. is the architect.
“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,” Amin said in August.
The other projects include operating the Golden Ox Liquors chain owned by his extended family, he said. 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,” Amin said of the Middleburg site. “We’ve wanted to do this for a long time.”
No concepts have been decided for the restaurant.
“It’s too early to call,” Amin said,
The Clay County Development Review Committee is scheduled to consider the revised project April 16.