"Bay Street night life showing new growth"

[Jason]

Bay Street night life showing new growth

Ivy Ultra Bar owners Christopher MacHatton and Lee Spell look over plans for the space on East Bay Street.

by Max Marbut
Staff Writer

This is one of those stories about two college buddies who sometimes sat around when they weren’t in class and talked about how great it would be to one day open a bar. That experience is probably had by literally thousands of college students each day, but this is one of those stories that led to it actually happening.

Lee Spell and Chris MacHatton signed a lease on the space at 113 E. Bay St. a month ago and construction began this week on Downtown’s newest night life venue â€" the Ivy Ultra Bar.

Spell, who earned a degree in communications from the University of North Florida and then went to work as a regional manager with the Outback Steakhouse franchise operation, said this new project gives him the chance to use his degree.

“This is our first bar, but we realize the key to success is giving people an excuse to come to Ivy Ultra Bar instead of anywhere else on any given night,” he said.

The location was chosen because it represents an opportunity to be a bridge of sorts between the after-hours businesses at the Landing and the club scene that has taken over East Bay Street two blocks east of Ivy where Mark’s, Dive Bar and TSI consistently draw crowds, said MacHatton.

“The whole idea is to complement what’s already here and to give people another reason to come Downtown for entertainment,” he said.

The first step was to hire an architect to do the structural design for the space. As it turned out, one of Ivy Bar’s neighbors was the man for the job. John Zona’s office is also on East Bay Street and it’s an example of turning an almost century-old space into a modern business. The entire block was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1901 and rebuilt soon after.

“Adaptive reuse of the fine historic space” is the main theme for the architectural design, said Zona. “We’re going to preserve the antique brick work and leave the heavy timbers exposed. There will be no structural changes and only minimal spatial changes in order to preserve the integrity of the space.”

Katrina Onan, decorator and owner of Award Winning Interiors, Inc., has been retained to create the ambiance and atmosphere for Ivy Ultra Bar. She agreed with Zona that the historic architecture of the space should be not only retained but accentuated by the interior design.

“I would describe the design as an industrial loft look, but not a copy of what you find in Las Vegas or Miami or New York because Jacksonville has its own flair,” said Onan, who has been designing residential and commercial interiors for clients in North Florida for seven years. “When it opens, Ivy Ultra Bar will be all new but it will look like it has been here for 100 years.”

She said the space will have two distinctive design elements, a 60-foot granite bar and a raised and tiered VIP area near the arched windows in the back of the space.

“It’s definitely designed for entertaining. It will have a fun, unpretentious feel. It’s going to be the new place to hang out in the neighborhood,” said Onan.

Spell said the grand opening of Ivy Ultra Bar is targeted for a Friday evening late in July.

Source: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=50279

[Driven1]

slowly but surely the "Bay St Town Center" is happening.  though it is not really going to be a "Town Center" anytime soon, but rather it IS actually becoming a "Bay Street Nighttime Destination".  and please note:  it did not happen at the pleading/urging of the Mayor or on his timescale by any means.  while the infrastructure improvements did help, the fumbling of the courthouse did not (because it left the old, ugly, monstrous courthouse across the street from the new businesses).  Mark Hemphill has made the place a success in my view.  yes, TSI has survived there as well, but I think it was Mark and his years of experience that has made Bay St what it is so far today.  in any case, as always, it is the private sector that stepped in and actually got things going.  i've been hearing about this Ultra Ivy Bar sometime now.  while it has no guarantee of survival, i would say with Mark having paved the way, with decent management, it stands a much better chance of prospering than  Nicky G's did.

local government should do a study (they love doing that anyway) on how Bay St actually developed.  and how gov't should step out of the way and not try to hinder the growth (remember when they said no more tables/chairs out on the sidewalk outside these newer establishments)? 

[thelakelander]

So once the Ivy Club opens, Bay Street will have four bars/night clubs stretched out over three city blocks three years since the Super Bowl circus came and passed?  I wouldn't call it a nightlife district anymore than I would call the block of Adams between Hogan and Laura, Restaurant Row.

The future of Bay Street, as a valid nightlife and entertainment district, will hinge on what we do with the courthouse and city hall annex sites.

[Driven1]

lake - i said it is "becoming a nighttime destination"...and it is.  drive by there on a thurs, fri or sat night and look at the crowds.  compare those crowds to the crowds from 3 years ago on bay st at night.

this, in spite of the handling of the courthouse.

[thelakelander]

Driven1, its just a matter of perspective, that's all.  I'm coming from a different angle where the goal was to make the Bay Street Town Center, E-Town or whatever its being called now, an entertainment district like a Ybor, Deep Ellum, Bricktown or the Flats.  

Plush makes Town N Country Shopping Center a destination and BG and London Bridge make Ocean & Adams a destination, but neither are bonefide districts.  So my interest is seeing how to get us to the point of making a few individual destination spots into a lengthy district.  You know, a spot where you can grab a late night bite to eat (from multiple establishments), bar/club hop or just stay on the street to soak up the vibrant atmosphere and energy.

[thelakelander]

The Ivy Ultra Bar sounds exciting.  Hopefully, someone will be able to move something worthwhile into the old Nicky G's spot to help create some synergy on that block.  Any idea on whatever happened to the Ocean's 11 project?

[comncense]

I'd definitely check it out. I rather head to a spot downtown than to drive all the way out to the beaches. I agree with Lake though, I would like to see Bay St. grow to the likes of Ybor City or even Church Street in Orlando. It would be nice if some places stayed open past 2am also, I think TSI already does. Ahh if only Burrito Gallery was on Bay Street and open past 10pm....

[Driven1]

yeah Lake...i had been wondering about the Ocean 11 as well.  i just did some checking.  my sources tell me that this place has now gone from "delayed" to "delayed indefinitely".  that should be read as "not gonna happen".  the guys are apparently saying that the downturn in the local economy has forced them to re-evaluate the whole idea.

too bad.  it had a catchy name. 

[Dapperdan]

Stepehn,
  Can you give any clue about the two players? Are they restauranst or clubs?

[thelakelander]

Any idea on how to bridge the gap between Newnan and Market Streets?

[Dapperdan]

A good start would be more creative signs like Dive Bar has. Neon lights will attract people to walk down the street. Also a few more hotdog street vendors will help or vendors selling blinky LED mini beer bottle lights or something like that.

[Dapperdan]

one club, one supperclub.

Is that a supper club or dinner club? lol I am assuming you meant super.

[thelakelander]

Any idea on how to bridge the gap between Newnan and Market Streets?

how do you mean?

The block between the Newnan and Market has city hall annex on the southside.  The northside is lined with a half block private surface parking lot and an office condominium tower that shuts down at 5pm during weekdays and appears to be mostly empty on weekends.  This effectively turns the three block district area into two separate spots of activity with a dead zone separating them.

[thelakelander]

A good start would be more creative signs like Dive Bar has. Neon lights will attract people to walk down the street. Also a few more hotdog street vendors will help or vendors selling blinky LED mini beer bottle lights or something like that.

That would be a great start.  It would be a way to visually connect the current establishments at night and encourage movement in between.

[Dapperdan]

If I owned a hot dog cart, I would get a  permit to be out there every Friday and Saturday night. that seems like a goldmine to me.