Five Points landscape shifts
The Five Points merchant community is experiencing a transitional phase as new businesses move in and others close their doors.
Fat Tuesday, known for its frozen cocktails and signature souvenir cups, is preparing its return to Jacksonville at its new Park Street location, with a zoning exception filed for 1043 and 1045 Park Street. According to published reports, the New Orleans-based chain plans to bring two concepts to these spaces: Fat Tuesday Kitchen and Bar and Fat Tuesday Social Lounge. Fat Tuesday previously operated a location at the Jacksonville Landing.
Around the corner on Lomax Street, Asian Pearl Nail Studio has celebrated its grand opening and is getting to know its new neighborhood, while across the street, Sublime Hair and Co. closed its doors earlier this year to relocate to Avondale. Lomax Street is also home to a vibrant new 1,700-foot mural by artist Shaun Thurston. Riverside Avondale Preservation is recognizing this new public art in a ceremony marking its completion on Thursday, Sept. 3 with District 7 City Council Member Jimmy Peluso and other community leaders.
Another ice cream shop may also be joining the Five Points community: On its website, national chain Jeni’s Ice Cream states it’s planning grand-opening festivities for its new Jacksonville location, with details “coming soon.” While an address isn’t listed, the link to that webpage reads “Park Street coming soon.” Additionally, as of Aug. 28, bidding has closed for a tenant buildout project for Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream on LDI Line, an online platform for contractors and subcontractors to review projects accepting bids. The address listed for that project is 1020 Park Street.
The Lomax Street Restaurant
Following years of inactivity, the City of Jacksonville’s Municipal Code Compliance Division has condemned the unfinished construction site at 803 Lomax Street as unsafe and unfit for human habitation.
The fenced-in, unfinished construction site has become a fixture at the corner of Lomax and Oak streets in the Five Points community, as plans for an incoming restaurant at the former Wells Fargo branch at 803 Lomax Street have stalled.
Landlords of the 803 Lomax Street property are seeking to remedy code compliance issues to prepare the parcel for prospective new tenants.
While the MCCD placard posted on-site at the property states the building is subject to demolition, MCCD stated that does not necessarily mean the structure will be demolished. A city spokesperson provided the following information to Resident News via e-mail:
“A condemned structure may be brought into compliance through proper permitting and rehabilitation, provided all identified safety and property maintenance violations are corrected. While demolition is one potential means of resolving the violations, a structure being subject to demolition does not mean demolition is immediate or that a demolition date has been scheduled.”
Atlanta-based landlord Chris Routledge told Resident News he and business partner are actively seeking new tenants following the expiration of a three-year lease with Roost Restaurants LLC – the same entity behind The Local concepts in Miramar and Neptune Beach. They are working to remedy issues at the property, including several active code violations, to prepare it for new prospective tenant buildouts, with options available for a single tenant or multiple tenants for the corner lot and attached surface parking lot.
Routledge and Stevens are landlords of neighboring businesses, including the recently opened Asian Pearl Nail Studio, which replaced Davalt Optical after it moved to its current location on West Bay Street, and Taqueria Cinco.
Construction on the proposed restaurant began in August 2023, following the issuance of a building permit for the planned Lomax Street Restaurant, a $2.2 million, two-story project, according to the permit.