The Downtown Investment Authority approved two Basic Retail Enhancement Program Grants on Oct. 18 for construction of The Hub Brooklyn, a restaurant and coffee shop complex in the Brooklyn neighborhood Downtown.
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 with patio space.
The city issued 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.
Alder & Oak is Janasik’s restaurant concept that offers local and coastal-inspired wood-fired cuisine and Prohibition-style cocktails.
The grant for the restaurant is up to $84,200 for tenant improvements for an approximately 2,600-square-foot air-conditioned space for interior dining and about 3,200 square feet of covered dining in a courtyard.
The developer’s minimum total contribution for Alder & Oak is $532,026.
The $66,150 grant for Southern Grounds Coffee Brooklyn LLC is for tenant improvements for a 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 rooftop bar.
The minimum total capital contribution from Southern Grounds to remain eligible for the grant is $413,000 including 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, no-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 remain in business at the location for three years.