The owners of River & Post and River & Fort plan to open an Italian-themed restaurant in St. Augustine.
Saint will be at 44 Avenida Menendez. Jeff McCusker and Bob Fleckenstein hope for an October opening, although McCusker says that is an aggressive target.
Cronk Duch Architecture / CD+urbanstudio architects designed the restaurant and RPC General Contractors is the contractor. McCusker said the restaurant is about 60% completed.
He estimates the investment at more than $6 million.
Saint will be near River & Fort, which is at 12 Avenida Menendez across from the fort, Castillo de San Marcos.
River & Post is at 1000 Riverside Ave. in Jacksonville’s Riverside area near Downtown.
John Arbizzani owns the Saint property. The restaurant will incorporate the building that was Arbizzani’s real estate office.
McCusker said it is one of the oldest buildings in St. Augustine.
Saint will be about 12,000 square feet built on 0.32 acre. It will seat about 400 customers with inside, rooftop and courtyard dining. There will also be a private dining area. Bars will be on the rooftop and main floor. McCusker expects to hire from 150 to 175 employees.
New construction on Avenida Menendez is proving to be a challenge. Because of the significance of the existing building, approval was needed from the St. Augustine Historic Architectural Review Board is for every change order, McCusker said.
Also, the street provides little access to crews.
“There’s no parking and it’s really hard to get all the trades in. Do you know how many trucks there are when plumbers, electricians or mechanical guys are coming in to do all their work? Just getting in and out is logistically challenging,” McCusker said.
McCusker said they chose Italian cuisine to fill in a dining gap in the Spanish-influenced city. He describes the setting as upscale casual. The menu will include steaks and seafood.
“People like to make a reservation and make a night out of it and make it really special,” he said. “But there are also people that are wearing shorts and a T-shirt walking with their kids down the street with a stroller and they are coming in. They’re an opportunity guest. They’re in town, they’ve never been here before and they see it and say, Oh this looks cool and stop in.”
River & Fort Chef Derrick Haggerty and General Manager Ted Hayes are moving to operate Saint.
“The reasoning behind that is we’re running a well-oiled machine. I know the capabilities that my two guys have with opening the restaurant with me. We have a great relationship together. So I think it’s just easier to bring somebody in to run the machine that’s already going. We don’t have to try something new,” McCusker said.
Opening in late fall is imperative because the holiday season and the Night of Lights event have become a busy time for St. Augustine restaurants.
“We have about a 20 to 40% increase during Night of Lights. Summertime is a little bit slow, but it’s a great town. It’s a historical town. It’s a city of romance. And the dining scene is great.”