{"id":279089,"date":"2026-05-21T04:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279089\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T04:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:37:10","slug":"dia-to-start-talks-with-baltimore-group-on-riverfront-plaza-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279089\/","title":{"rendered":"DIA to start talks with Baltimore group on Riverfront Plaza restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Baltimore restaurant group gained an opportunity to expand to Jacksonville\u2019s Downtown Northbank after action May 20 by the Downtown Investment Authority.<\/p>\n

On a 7-0 vote, the board directed staff to negotiate with Atlas Restaurant Group on an agreement to build and operate a restaurant on city-owned property in Riverfront Plaza. Member Sondra Fetner arrived after the vote, and member Jill Caffey was absent.<\/p>\n

With the vote, the board accepted a recommendation from a DIA evaluation committee that scored proposals from Atlas and St. Augustine-based PK Hospitality Group for the property on the southwest corner of the park.<\/p>\n

Atlas and PK issued the only responses to a DIA notice of disposition for the restaurant site. Disposition is the process by which the city transfers publicly owned property for private development.<\/p>\n

The committee evaluated the two proposals on six criteria, including experience, the groups\u2019 lease proposals, financial capacity and operational viability. Each category was scored on a scale of zero to 20.<\/p>\n

Cumulatively, Atlas scored 90 to PK\u2019s 71.7.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Downtown Investment Authority committee voted 3-0 on April 30 to recommend that the DIA move forward on a proposal from Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group to design, build and lease a restaurant building at Riverfront Plaza on the Downtown Northbank. In its proposal, Atlas cited its Choptank restaurants, such as the one shown here in Annapolis, Maryland, as a brand that would influence the Jacksonville location.<\/p>\n

The Choptank<\/p>\n

Atlas, which operates more than 50 restaurants, proposed to build a shell building that the city would own, then build-out the shell and lease it. The group\u2019s terms include being reimbursed $8 million from the city to design and construct the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Atlas would spend $4 million on the build-out, then pay a base rent of $560,000 annually with a 3% escalation per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If revenue reaches $11.2 million annually, the rent would switch to 5% of that revenue.<\/p>\n

Atlas would provide maintenance and pay for insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its restaurant would include a waterfront raw bar and casual dining component, a full-service dining room with seafood and steaks and a rooftop bar and lounge.<\/p>\n

Board members expressed concerns about parking for the restaurant, with member Cameron Hooper saying original plans for the Jacksonville Landing included a parking garage that was never built. The Landing, a retail and restaurant complex, was on the Riverfront Plaza site. Built in 1987, it was demolished in 2019 and 2020 after losing luster and tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seen things not work there because of a logistical nature,\u201d Hooper said. \u201cWe have to look at history.\u201d<\/p>\n

DIA staff member Allan DeVault said Atlas is expected to make significant use of valet parking, using the city owned Water Street parking garage west of the plaza.<\/p>\n

Atlas operates in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, D.C. Several of its restaurants are on waterfronts.<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Augustine-based PK Hospitality Group submitted one of two proposals for a restaurant on city-owned property in Riverfront Plaza, the former Jacksonville Landing site Downtown. It described its Prohibition Kitchen concept as an entertainment-driven gastropub with a main dining room with live music, a private dining space, rooftop cocktail lounge and rum-focused tasting environment.<\/p>\n

Special to the Daily Record<\/p>\n

PK\u2019s concept was for Prohibition Kitchen, an entertainment-driven gastropub, including a main dining room with live music, a private dining space, rooftop cocktail lounge and rum-focused tasting environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its proposal included a full abatement of rent for the first two years, with rent of $120,000 in year three, $144,000 in year four, $168,000 in year five and a 2.5% increase annually thereafter.<\/p>\n

According to the DIA, the facility will include 6,000 square feet of interior space, a 1,500-square foot patio and a rooftop bar.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Baltimore restaurant group gained an opportunity to expand to Jacksonville\u2019s Downtown Northbank after action May 20 by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-279089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}