The Culinary Institute of America could receive up to $35 million in incentives to open its fourth U.S. campus in Downtown Jacksonville, following City Council approval of the effort.
Council voted 16-2 on May 26 in favor of Ordinance 2026-0419, which expresses Council approval for the CIA campus and authorize city staff to negotiate a finalized incentives agreement with the New York-based institute. Members Rory Diamond and Mike Gay voted no, and member Will Lahnen was not present.
Council President Kevin Carrico introduced the ordinance and requested it be passed on an emergency basis so that Council could be on record backing it before a CIA board meeting in June, during which its members are expected to consider locations for a southeast campus.
The ordinance confirmed speculation that the city was exploring incentives for the CIA, which in city documents had been code-named Project Caymus.
Robert Jones, the CIA’s vice president of strategic partnerships, industry leadership and impact, compared a potential Jacksonville campus to the CIA’s campus in San Antonio, saying that city’s “gastronomic renaissance” created economic, social and cultural improvements.
“We see incredible political alignment, growth ambitions and a reasonable cost of living, aligned with priorities around serving our nation’s veterans, the power of food as medicine and a confluence of partners, including this Council,” he told Council members.
The approved legislation does not bind the city to an economic development agreement. Rather, the ordinance serves to encourage the CIA board to select Downtown for its Southeast campus and confirms City Council support for up to $35 million in incentives.
Corner Lot hotel tower
On April 1, the Downtown Investment Authority released plans for a mixed use development including Project Caymus. The proposed development includes a 14-story tower with a hotel and conference center at 330 E. Bay St. on the site of the demolished Duval County Courthouse.
Corner Lot and Aspect Real Estate Group, partners in the project, submitted the only response to a DIA notice of disposition for a 0.8-acre portion of the 2.6-acre property. Disposition is a process by which city-owned property is transferred to the private sector for redevelopment.
The DIA documents said the property would also include space for Project Caymus, which was identified as an academic institution that would operate culinary demonstration and teaching kitchen facilities and offer professional development and continuing education programs.
The prospective deal
A supporting document in the Council legislation lists the recipient of the proposed city incentives as Project Caymus. The document, which contains proposed terms for an economic development agreement, bears Corner Lot’s name and logo.
The ordinance says the city incentives would go toward the CIA establishing a 50,000-square-foot campus Downtown. It says the city’s Tourist Development Council has pledged $1 million for the project.
Under proposed terms in the supporting document, the city would provide $8 million in workforce development funding and $27 million from the Downtown Riverfront Residential Incentives Contingency Fund, which was established by Ordinance 2025-0385 and contains $30 million.
The document says the city of Jacksonville’s proposed commitments include possible use of funds from the city’s $150 million portion of its $300 million Community Benefits Agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars. That agreement is tied to the $1.45 billion deal to transform EverBank Stadium into the team’s “Stadium of the Future.”
Funding per year would be $4 million in 2026-27, $6.25 million in each of the next two years, $8.25 million in each of the next two and $2 million in the sixth year.
Among other proposed commitments, the city would work with the developer to help obtain state funding.
The developer’s proposed commitments include providing at least 12 educational programs in 2026, establishing and maintaining a presence in Downtown Jacksonville until the new campus is complete. It also would pursue state and federal funding, including New Market Tax Credits.
Another commitment is to develop marina, public spaces and any additional parking needed for the site.
A global program
The Culinary Institute of America was established in 1946 in Hyde Park, New York. In addition to its home site, the institute operates two campuses in California’s Wine Country, one in San Antonio and one in Singapore.
Jacksonville chef Dennis Chan, who graduated from the CIA in 2000, said in an April interview that the Jacksonville operation would most closely resemble the San Antonio campus. The 30,000-square-foot school is in the renovated Pearl Brewing Co. facility near the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Chan, who founded Blue Bamboo Canton Bistro in 2005 and continues to operate it at 10110 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin, said institute President Michiel Bakker met with city leaders and local alumni over the past several months to explore opening a site in Jacksonville.
Bakker told city leaders the project would need state, local and community support for an endowed scholarship, Chan said.
Chan said the institute would raise Jacksonville’s profile as a food city and would attract visitors to Downtown.
“It would bring culinary tourism to Jacksonville, and we simply don’t have that,” he said. “Also, some of the campuses will do continuing education classes, which will bring people to Jacksonville from the region.”
The institute has produced more than 55,000 graduates, according to its website. In an October 2025 report, Forbes said the CIA is “known as the Harvard of the culinary world” and it “draws students from all over the globe for its best-of-the-best reputation.”
The late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is among its alumni.
Plans for the Northbank hotel development comprise the tower building and a separate building including food and beverage uses on the ground floor topped by three floors of Class A office space.
In the 14-story tower, the second and third levels would include 17,000 square feet of conference space with a divisible grand ballroom designed to accommodate events of up to 600 attendees.
Levels four through 14 would have 160 hotel rooms. Plans show pool decks on the fourth and fifth floors, plus a covered outdoor lounge, clubroom and fitness center on the fifth floor.