The city issued a permit Sept. 8 for Chick-fil-A Inc. to renovate its restaurant at 13375 Atlantic Blvd., near Hodges Boulevard, rather than raze and rebuild it.
HMC Facilities Group LLC of Newnan, Georgia, is the contractor for the $783,945 project.
Chick-fil-A intends to renovate, change kitchen equipment and perform other work.
“We are pleased to share that Chick-fil-A Atlantic & Hodges is currently undergoing a remodel to make overall updates to the restaurant, including improvements to the kitchen, to better and more efficiently serve guests,” said the Atlanta-based restaurant company in an email June 12.
“The need for further improvements will be evaluated in the coming months.”
CPH LLC is the civil engineer.
The project appears to be taking place instead of the previously confirmed plans to build a new restaurant there.
Chick-fil-A Inc. said Dec. 8, 2022, that it anticipated the Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club area restaurant would be closed in late 2023 or early 2024, demolished and rebuilt in 2024, “and will include changes to better and more efficiently serve our customers.”
“We are working with the City of Jacksonville to approve plans and hope to continue making improvements to other Chick-fil-A restaurants in the area,” the company said then by email.
Chick-fil-A built the restaurant in 2000 at northeast Atlantic Boulevard and Joeandy Road.
The chicken sandwich and tenders chain said previously on a site plan the project is part of its property reinvestment program to improve customer service and restaurant operations.
“Property improvements will include demolition of existing building and associated parking areas and the construction of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant with dual drive-thru, parking lot and infrastructure support,” said a plan filed with JEA, the city’s utility, in a request for service availability.
The existing site of 1.17 acres along with additional property would create a 1.23-acre site.
CPH LLC also was the civil engineer for that project.
The application said Chick-fil-A would demolish the existing 4,268-square-foot building and build a 5,772-square-foot restaurant with 118 seats.
Joandy L.C., a Jacksonville investment partnership, bought the property for $970,000 in 1998 from Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club Ltd. and leased the land in 1999 to Chick-fil-A, property records show.
Chick-fil-A is renovating existing stores, often increasing drive-thru capacity, and building new restaurants throughout the area.
The River City Marketplace store at 14020 Lunar Drive in North Jacksonville closed Sept. 8 for drive-thru renovations, the company said on social media. It said the work is expected to take two weeks.
Chick-fil-A has at least 23 locations in Northeast Florida, including licensed locations at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Flagler College.
The family-owned and privately held restaurant company, founded in 1967, is closed on Sunday.
It franchises the locations.