With construction underway, Jollibee is expected to open its first Jacksonville location in mid-December at southwest Atlantic and Kernan boulevards in Southside.
It will be the forerunner for expansion of the largest fast-food chain based in the Philippines.
“It will be our first in Florida and yes, there will be more Jollibee (restaurants) in the entire state,” said Agnes Briones, director of new markets for Jollibee North America, in an email Monday.
Briones said the Jacksonville Jollibee will be company-owned. She said the company will announce the precise opening date when confirmed.
Until Monday, the company had not indicated a specific time frame.
The restaurant’s menu includes what it calls its all-time favorite Chickenjoy, which is fried chicken, as well as Jolly Spaghetti, Yum Burgers, Fiesta Noodles, a sandwich collection that includes Spam and corned beef, and Chicken Dippers.
It also serves breakfast and desserts, including peach mango pie, the Ube Pearl Cooler and Buko Pandan Pearl Cooler.
Its more than 30 U.S. locations comprise more than 20 in California along with stores in Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington and Virginia.
Jollibee started in 1975 as an ice cream parlor in the Philippines. The first Jollibee in the U.S. opened in 1998 in Daly City, Calif., near San Francisco, to cater to the Filipino and Filipino-American families living in the area.
The Jacksonville metro area has been attractive to the Filipino community as well.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Filipino community of an estimated 17,200 people comprised about 35 percent of the Asian population in the Jacksonville metro area as of 2014.
The city approved the $215,000 restaurant remodel Aug. 1 of the former Kentucky Fried Chicken and A&W Restaurants building at 11884 Atlantic Blvd. in Kernan Village. Accelerated Contractors LLC is the contractor.
Jollibee Chicken & Burgers, at almost 3,500 square feet, is shown on the center’s site plan on an outparcel next to The Potter’s House Soul Food Bistro.
The Jollibeeusa.com site’s career page says it seeks store supervisors in several cities, including Jacksonville. It needs crew members for full- and part-time positions and for weekend schedules. Candidates are asked to email [email protected].
In July, Jollibee opened its first restaurant in Chicago with almost 500 people in line as early as 6 a.m. according to business.inquirer.net. Thousands of customers visited throughout the day.
Jollibee’s founding family took part in the opening festivities. The company said Illinois had the third largest population of Filipinos in the United States after California and Hawaii.
The news site said in the fourth quarter, Jollibee wanted to open in downtown Chicago and in Jacksonville as well as its first stores in Canada. It wants to open in Manhattan next year.
Business.inquirer.net said it operated 1,082 Jollibee stores.
Mahaffey buys almost 26 acres in Bartram
The Mahaffey Apartment Co. bought 25.7 acres Friday along Bartram Park Boulevard from Franklin Pointe Office Center LLC.
Mahaffey, through Mahaffey Associates Jacksonville LLC, paid $5.66 million for the vacant land.
Based in Winter Park, Mahaffey develops, builds, manages and owns large apartment developments.
Currently located solely in Florida, Mahaffey Communities are branded as Carlton Arms, according to the company.
Mahaffey lists its 10 communities in Bradenton, Lakeland, New Port Richey, Ocala, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Winter Haven and Winter Park. There are two each in Lakeland and Tampa.
Since 1962, it has developed, managed and owned more than 16,000 rental apartments in 20 developments.
Franklin Pointe Office Center, a Michigan company with a Boca Raton address, bought the property in December 2004 for $11.75 million.
Mahaffey and Franklin Pointe executives did not return phone calls Monday.
EastPointe center sells for $3.3M
Larkspur Properties sold EastPointe Business Center to A&S St. Johns LLC, a private investment group, last week for $3.3 million.
The 36,569-square-foot office building is on 3.16 acres at 3740 St. Johns Bluff Road S. It is anchored by Smart Pharmacy and Trihydro Corp.
Larkspur, based in Aventura, sold the property through Larkspur Jacksonville Office LLC. The buyer’s registered agent is the Ansbacher & Schneider law firm in Jacksonville.
Keith Goldfaden, Christian Harden and Daniel Burkhardt of NAI Hallmark Partners represented Larkspur in the sale.
Harden, a principal of NAI Hallmark Partners, said Larkspur renovated and modernized the 27-year-old property with a facade overhaul and new monument signage.
“This renovation helped create significant leasing momentum and subsequently a very attractive sales price,” he said.
Steven Newman of Newman Commercial in Orlando represented the buyer, according to Harden.
Larkspur bought the property in September 2014 for $1.65 million from U.S. National Bank Association, which had taken title to the property in 2013.
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