It’s a downtrodden LaVilla building that people had high hopes for more than a decade ago.
Plans were in place for Sax Seafood & Grill, a restaurant at the edge of a Downtown neighborhood that had not received much investment.
The city in 2003 partnered with an Orlando developer and spent nearly $2 million in hopes of seeing the jazz-themed establishment come into place.
It never made it.
Five years later, the city took over the partially constructed building. It’s sat idle since then.
A step into the vacant 816 W. Union St. structure looks like crews just left in the middle of the job.
Construction debris and piles of wood lie all over the floor. The original plans for the restaurant are lined neatly on the half-built bar.
The Downtown Investment Authority is hoping that after nearly a decade of nothing, the former Sax Seafood site can become something that might contribute to the progress being seen in LaVilla.
It’s an area that DIA CEO Aundra Wallace labeled last year as the “next frontier” for Downtown.
The progress includes an event Wednesday, when officials broke ground on a site several blocks south that will have 130 units of affordable housing.
Maybe in the near future the DIA and others can have a similar celebratory scene at the Sax Seafood site.
Last week, it continued to lay the groundwork for that by hosting an open house Friday for people to visit and see the state of the building.
Guy Parola, redevelopment manager with the DIA, said the opportunity is there given what’s happening around LaVilla.
In addition to the Wednesday groundbreaking, there are plans to bring another 100-plus units to the area.
The Sax Seafood site has its perks, said Parola. Namely, its accessibility.
Cars hum along Downtown thoroughfares of Beaver, Davis and Union streets. The building has neighbors like the Ritz Theatre and Museum, the LaVilla School of the Arts and several businesses.
Yet, a decade of neglect shows.
Several doors and windows have been boarded up. Glass is strewn about after vagrants busted their way in to have a place to sleep with a roof over their heads.
Some of them left their sparse belongings and garbage behind. Others used the bathrooms that are plumbed out but haven’t had running water for ages.
As for the open house, Daniel Jordan and his Outlaw Sports group were among the half-dozen or so who made the visit Friday to see the possibilities through the clutter and debris.
“It has a lot of potential,” he said.
Jordan said his group was looking for investments and he saw the potential for a family-friendly restaurant. He and his group also saw the potential costs — Jordan wasn’t sure just yet if they would place a bid for the project.
Bids are scheduled to be opened Nov. 16.
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