The Jacksonville Beach City Council unanimously approved the rezoning of the 100 block of Fifth Avenue North to build first-floor offices and retail and a second-story rooftop restaurant.
Council voted 6-0 to approve the rezoning (2024-8213) at its May 20 meeting.
Greg Saig, managing partner of Jax Beach Investment Holdings, requested the property be zoned to a Planned Unit Development to allow for the mixed-use project. It includes improvements to the adjacent Mango at 602 First St. N. Saig is also part of that ownership group.
The property is in the Jacksonville Beach Central Business District.
Construction is expected to start sometime in 2025, Saig said.
He also is involved Salt Life Food Shack, Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille, Surfer The Bar, and Casa Reina Taqueria & Tequila in St. Augustine.
The first floor will have either retail or office space. Saig prefers retail, he said in an interview before the Council vote.
“The goal is to find one right tenant that fits into the building and works well with the restaurant above,” he said.
There have been preliminary conversations with a tenant, Saig said, but he would not disclose the company name.
The combined space and parking area will be about 14,000 square feet.
Saig has owned the property for more than 10 years and has been waiting for the city to grow enough surrounding businesses to make his concept possible.
He said the time is right to move on the project.
“I’m a big believer in the transformation that Jacksonville and the entire city is going through right now and that it will continue to go through,” he said.
He wants his as-of-yet unnamed restaurant to reflect what he calls a “polished higher-end” dining experience with a Tulum and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. It will have a lounge and a private member club. The rooftop deck will have ocean views and fire pits.
Growth in Jacksonville Beach’s Central Business District has given him confidence to green-light the project. He was part of the district’s planning process, he said.
“Things have already happened with the great hotels that have come to the beach. And then O-Ku did a great job coming into the city and offering a higher-end sushi establishment. I know they’ve done very well in that location,” he said.
O-Ku opened in February 2022 at 502 First St. N. in Jacksonville Beach. It is one block south of Saig’s property.
Besides O-Ku, businesses near the proposed restaurant include Lynch’s Irish Pub, V Pizza, Cask and Canon, Lukumades, Casa Marina Hotel, Margaritaville Hotel, Springhill Suites by Marriott and the Jacksonville Beach Pier.
Saig, 59, came into the hospitality industry right out of college. He and his brother, Louis, opened Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille at The Jacksonville Landing in 1987. It started as an oyster bar but after hiring a chef from New Orleans it took on the Cajun cuisine that it is known for today.
Harry’s has locations in Gainesville, Ocala, St. Augustine, Lakeland and Tallahassee.