The Downtown Investment Authority voted 7-0 on Dec. 20 to recommend approval of a $21,500 Retail Enhancement Program Grant to Paul Jackson for his proposed restaurant and nightspot.
Jackson wants to open The Cereal Box Live at 245 E. Adams St.
The concept is a restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch with boxed cereal as its calling card. Other traditional breakfast and lunch items will be served as well.
According to the staff report, the business would be open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch. It would then reopen from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. as a music venue.
Jackson plans to operate a recording studio upstairs. Jackson owns Vibe Live Studios LLC.
The estimated build-out costs are $84,200. The grant comes in the form of a three-year forgivable loan.
The grant is relatively small compared with the millions of dollars loaned and awarded to major projects.
“This is not of the scope as most projects. However, maybe for those asking for smaller amounts the money is more important to them,” said DIA member Braxton Gillam.
More DIA action:
FSCJ forgiven loans request
The DIA board denied Florida State College at Jacksonville’s request that $180,000 in no-interest loans be forgiven for the student housing and ground-floor retail building it leases at 20 W. Adams St.
The deadlines and language for the loans changed over the years because of the pandemic from the initial incentives deal that was approved in 2015.
The building was renovated and opened in 2018.
According to the DIA resolution, while the 2015 deal said the loans “may be forgiven,” the current deal, approved in 2022, does not include language that they are forgivable.
The DIA staff recommended denying the FSCJ request for forgiveness.
Regions Bank forgivable loan
The board unanimously approved a request from Regions Bank for a $410,000 forgivable loan from a previously approved $1.1 million incentives package.
The bank will use the $410,000 from that agreement for an exterior rehabilitation project.
In 2020, City Council approved a $1.1 million incentives package for Regions Bank’s historic Downtown headquarters building at 51 W. Bay St.
The deal includes up to $900,000 in forgivable historic preservation and code compliance loans. Previously, the DIA approved $149,760 for the bank.
With approval of the forgivable loan, it leaves $340,240 in potential loans remaining.
Armada parking
The board voted unanimously to authorize DIA CEO Lori Boyer to prepare an agreement with the Jacksonville Armada to use the Sports Complex Garage at 500 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.
The Armada, a men’s professional soccer team, plans to start construction on a soccer stadium nearby early next year.
A rezoning agreement requires the DIA “to ensure that there is no conflicting event on such date which would reduce the capacity of the Sports Complex garage below 393 spaces or the amount required after obtaining private agreements.”