As expected, the franchise owner is renovating or rebuilding two of the Burger King restaurants it bought in West and Northwest Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Aug. 8 for North Coast Construction to demolish the Burger King at 7725 Lem Turner Road in Northwest Jacksonville at a project cost of $20,000.
The 3,171-square-foot restaurant will be removed and then replaced with a 2,920-square-foot Burger King at an estimated project cost of almost $1.75 million.
Royal Restaurant Group of West Palm Beach bought the restaurant as one of the 24 it acquired in 2023 in Northeast Florida.
The city also issued a permit June 24 for a $200,000 renovation to the group’s Burger King at 7320 103rd St. in West Jacksonville. Southport Construction of Clearwater is the contractor.
That 2,865-square-foot building was developed on 1.1 acres in 1983. The site is near Firestone Road west of Interstate 295. JEA issued a service availability letter Oct. 20 for the remodeling to update the 50-seat restaurant “to current standards.”
“We will be renovating several in the area and (will) bring fresh new Burger King images to Jacksonville,” said Randy Pianin, co-founder and CEO of Royal Restaurant Group LLC, in November.
Both restaurants are in design for Burger King’s Garden Grill concept. Gershen Associates of Miami is the architect for each.
At 7725 Lem Turner Road, Royal Restaurant Group intends to tear down the restaurant on 1.21 acres and rebuild it with a 53-seat, 2,920-square-foot model to meet franchise standards.
The current structure was built in 1971. The site is west of Interstate 95 near Edgewood Avenue West. JEA issued a service availability letter Oct. 24, 2023.
The city is reviewing a building-permit application for the project.
Burger King’s Garden Grill concept first circulated internationally in 2011. North America President Tom Curtis told QSR Magazine in October 2023 that by the end of 2024, nearly half of domestic stores would have the Garden Grill and new Sizzle look.
Curtis told the magazine that in a good number of Garden Grill units, if the foundation is solid, the conversion is not necessary to knock it down.
He said the future goal will be to only offer Sizzle as the available package for operators. The format allows new modes like kiosk and in-store mobile order and pickup, as well as mobile order and pickup at the drive-thru, QSRmagazine.com said.
Pianin said the group leases the buildings and properties from other owners.
Royal Restaurant Group does not own all of the Burger Kings in the area and did not own the two that closed last year 210 E. State St. Downtown and 1981 Kings Road near Edward Waters University.
Pianin said two other franchisees in greater Jacksonville, including north into Southeast Georgia, own about 19 area Burger Kings.
An Oct. 30, 2023, report in Restaurant News said Royal Restaurant Group LLC, which organized in the state in November 2022, “has dramatically improved their units’ sales and operating performance since acquiring the restaurants earlier this year.”
It described Royal Restaurant Group as a national franchise group “that successfully operates restaurant locations for global brands.”