Panera Bread proposes an estimated $750,000 build-out for the $1.25 million shell building it will develop at the site of the closed 5th Element Taste of India in Baymeadows.
The new 3,831-square-foot cafe is planned on 1.36 acres at 9485 Baymeadows Road. The shell and interior projects total $2 million.
The 5th Element has moved to 9551 Baymeadows Road, Units 10-11, near the Patel Brothers grocery store as it waits for its Town Center location to be remodeled.
Panera, a fast-casual bakery-café, would demolish the existing restaurant and build a new one.
Panera applied to the city for permit for the shell building in October. That permit is in review.
The site is on the north side of Baymeadows Road between Old Baymeadows Road and Baymeadows Circle East, west of Southside Boulevard.
Plans show a patio and a single-lane drive-thru in addition to interior dining.
Panera applied this week for the tenant build-out of 3,645 square feet of space.
The landowner is Realty Income Corp. of San Diego.
GBT Realty Corp. of Brentwood, Tennessee, is the client. MJM Architects inc. of Nashville is the architect.
City utility JEA issued a service availability letter June 26, 2023, for demolition of the Baymeadows Road restaurant and construction of a 100-seat Panera Bread.
Goodson Bergen & Associates Consulting Engineers Inc. is the civil engineer.
Built in 1991, the 4,561-square-foot restaurant was a former Applebee’s before it was 5th Element Indian Restaurant.
There are at least 14 Panera Bread locations in Northeast Florida.
Panera now leases a 4,360-square-foot space nearby at 9810 Baymeadows Road in Baymeadows Village.
Panera has been opening stand-alone restaurants with drive-thrus as it leaves its in-line locations in strip shopping centers.
Meanwhile the 5th Element owners bought a closed St. Johns Town Center area restaurant to relocate.
It becomes the fourth restaurant to operate at the site.
On July 24, 2023, SK Jaxs LLC bought a 5,010-square-foot restaurant at 10208 Buckhead Branch Drive for $2.4 million.
A company spokesperson said in August 2023 the landlord did not renew the lease at 5th Element Indian Restaurant’s current Baymeadows Road location and that the restaurant will move.
The my5thelement.com site shows that the Town Center site is opening soon.
SK Jaxs LLC is led by Sridhar Sannala and Koteswara Rao Putikam.
They also are the owners of 5th Element Indian Restaurant LLC, whose address is 9485 Baymeadows Road.
They bought the Town Center restaurant from Buckhead Equities LLC, led by restaurant owner Jacques Klempf.
The structure was built in 2006 on the 1.05-acre site.
Klempf operated the Original Pancake House there for several years. He and a business partner opened Ovinte in late 2012 and served Spanish and Italian-influenced cuisine, wine and cocktails. They closed it in July 2017.
He then leased the site to Kamiya 86 for a sushi bar and restaurant.
Klempf owns the Cowford Chophouse Downtown.
