The Downtown Investment Authority Retail Enhancement and Property Disposition Committee is considering two Basic Retail Enhancement Program Grants for construction of The Hub Brooklyn, a restaurant and coffee shop center in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
The committee is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Oct. 9 in Conference Room G4 at the Main Library at 303 N. Laura St.
The city issued three permits Jan. 3 for Danis Construction LLC to build three shell buildings at 400 Riverside Ave. at a construction cost of nearly $2.46 million.
Hospitality Hub LLC paid $285,000 for the 0.21-acre site Oct. 1, 2022.
The project, at Riverside Avenue and Forest Street, is led by Jacksonville-based Southern Grounds & Co. owner Mark Janasik.
The three buildings comprise space for Alder & Oak restaurant and bar; a rooftop bar; loft space for CD+urban; and a Southern Grounds coffee shop and patio space.
Alder & Oak is Janasik’s restaurant concept that offers local and coastal-inspired wood-fired cuisine and Prohibition-style cocktails.
The grant being considered for the restaurant is up to $84,200.
The application states the proposed award is for tenant improvements for an approximately 2,600-square-foot air-conditioned space for interior dining and approximately 3,220 square feet of covered open-air dining in a courtyard.
The developer’s minimum total contribution for Alder & Oak is shown as $532,026 on the application.
According to the application, the $66,150 grant for Southern Grounds Coffee Brooklyn LLC is for tenant improvements for an approximately 3,415-square-foot coffee shop, bakery and fast-casual restaurant on the first floor (2,400 square feet indoors, 1,015 square feet outdoors) and an 800-square-foot, full-service, rooftop bar.
The minimum total capital contribution from Southern Grounds to remain eligible for the grant is $413,000 comprising direct costs of capital improvements to the property found in the general contractor contract or installed equipment or build-out costs.
Each award is structured as a forgivable, 0% interest grant that will amortize at the rate of 2.778% each month following closing for three years with the condition that Alder & Oak and Southern Grounds are in business at the location for three years.