A year-plus after the Downtown Development Review Board approved a contested proposal to build a Daily’s gas station and convenience store in LaVilla, the city has issued a demolition permit for the last remaining building on the project site.
Issued Oct. 1, the permit allows for demolition of a closed bank drive-thru building at 60 N. Broad St.
C&R Contractors Inc. of Jacksonville is listed as the contractor to demolish the 986-square-foot building, canopy, parking lot and related structures on 0.43 acres at a project cost of $20,000.
Jacksonville-based First Coast Energy LLP is the property owner.
In August 2023, the DDRB granted final approval to plans by First Coast Energy for a two-story Daily’s that included a Bold City Brewery and restaurant. The approval came on a 5-2 vote, which capped eight months of delays and hearings in which LaVilla and Downtown advocates expressed opposition to the proposal and pressed for design changes.
Opponents contended that the project would degrade pedestrian safety and accessibility in the area and that its appearance did not fit the spirit of the specialized design code in LaVilla.
The project was planned on a 1.4-acre block bounded by Forsyth, Jefferson, Bay and Broad streets.
As approved by the DDRB, it would include 16 fueling stations, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and Bold City microbrewery, and a rooftop bar.
First Coast Energy paid almost $3.3 million in August 2020 for the property.
The company paid nearly $2.4 million for five parcels that include the site of a closed bank drive-thru and $900,000 for the land where the Kartouche nightclub once stood.
The DDRB’s vote was delayed for a month after Mayor Donna Deegan and City Council member Jimmy Peluso requested a hold on the final decision and called for First Coast Energy to solicit more input from the LaVilla community. At that time, both Deegan and Peluso were newly elected. Peluso held a town hall meeting with the developer and community members.