A sports bar from Charleston, S.C., will join Courtyard by Marriott as residents of the Laura Street Trio downtown.
Steve Atkins, who heads the Southeast Development Group, made the announcement Thursday night at the Cultural Council Arts Awards which was being held in the Marble Bank building, also a part of the Trio.
King Street Grille, founded in Charleston 10 years ago, will occupy the first two floors of the Bisbee Building, according to Atkins and Eddie Phipps, part-owner and attorney for the sports bar. The first King Street Grille is on King Street in the city's historic district. Since then, its owners have opened five more locations, all along the coast of South Carolina.
A seventh is opening soon.
One of the partners in the chain is Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Phipps said.
http://members.jacksonville.com/entertainment/food-and-dining/2014-05-01/story/high-end-charleston-sc-sports-bar-will-occupy-part
If he can really break ground on this by the end of the year, that would be amazing. I'm still a little skeptical.
Nonetheless, seems like a great tenant.
Hmm...bar and Big Ben go together like gas and bleach. Just joking. Love the concept. I've been looking for a good sports bar since I moved to town.
Lake, you're fine...just maybe use the restroom next door.
If Pho and the Volstead can hang in there until the Trio and Barnett open, this development is going to add to the nighttime vibrancy of Laura Street. With residents of the Barnett, the Carling, WA Knight Lofts, Chamberlin's apts, and the Marriott guests you will have a small core of folks living at the intersection of Laura and Adams. I'm hoping this may spur a local franchise like a Firehouse Subs, Larry's Giant Subs, Five Guys, etc. to also open in the area as a fast-casual option. Maybe the project across the street from the Carling will be completed with apartments and a ground floor restaurant.
Wow...
Spent 5 years going to King St Grill weekly. Great place.
Agreed. I visit Charleston every August and King Street Grille is always on my agenda.
I think this will be really cool. Now I can grab a lunch wrap at chamblins.... catch a game and snacks at the bisbee and hit the volstead for a cocktail before going home. Working downtown just got better :)
That is awesome. Will also add another bit of nightlife to DT.
I thought Atkins was still looking for incentives and/or private funding?
There have been so many ups and downs with these buildings, I have to take a 'seeing is believing' attitude, but in terms of the uses and tenants with these four buildings (including Barnett), Atkins seems to be getting the perfect blend.
I've said ever since the DIA started that nothing else they can do matters more than getting these four buildings occupied. Let's hope the city's help either isn't needed or they come through this time.
QuoteI've said ever since the DIA started that nothing else they can do matters more than getting these four buildings occupied. Let's hope the city's help either isn't needed or they come through this time.
Not just occupied, but with residents living there, paying taxes, consuming resources local to downtown. Bars and restaurants are nice, but what downtown needs are more people living and consuming. More restaurants and bars will surely come, but the residents have to come first.
Anyone know the progress of the building to the West of Farah and Farah? Last I saw it they were adding windows at the speed of a snail. If this Adams/Laura area were to add 1000 new people this year, that would be huge for downtown and provide more momentum to do more of this downtown. All developers want to see is a constant demand, not a one time event that happens every April and talks about "what could happen".
I'm all for more growth downtown, but the residents should be the top priority. When this happens, we get cool properties like 11E, the Carling, and Churchwell Lofts. I'd like to see more of this in the next few months to show that downtown is serious about growing. Pictures of dinner inside the Barnett or FNB building at 200-300 bucks a pop, do nothing for me, they are just one and done and show what could be.
QuoteIf this Adams/Laura area were to add 1000 new people this year, that would be huge for downtown and provide more momentum to do more of this downtown. All developers want to see is a constant demand, not a one time event that happens every April and talks about "what could happen".
LOL. That area won't add 100 residents this year. The Trio/Barnett will only have 80 residential units and it will take a year or two of construction, once construction starts. It will be closer to 2016 than 2014 when those residents start moving in. The larger impact will be the hotel, IMO. 131 units housing people in town that spend money everyday. However, that's still a few years off as well.
QuoteAnyone know the progress of the building to the West of Farah and Farah? Last I saw it they were adding windows at the speed of a snail.
There hasn't been any activity on that building in a few years. Its 16 units were originally supposed to completed back in 2007.
Hotel occupants are ideal in many ways in terms of creating demand for restaurants and bars. They are usually on their company's dime, and therefore spend more and spend each day they are there. It also can be a quasi-vacation of sorts for some, and e all spend more while on vacation than during a normal work week.
No one disagrees that more reidents are needed. That's a no-brainer, but if there is nothing there to attract people, no one will want to live there in the first place. It is a chicken and egg situation, therefore you take whatever 'demand' you can get (tourists, office workers, drive-in locals, etc.) until the residential base required fills up over time.
You've got 600 apartments that will be finished on Riverside one mile from the Trio.
and 75k-100k residents living within a three mile radius. While more residents in the Northbank is important, we should not use its lack of residents as an excuse for not being able to achieve great things. We have more than enough to work with already.
Quote from: thelakelander on May 02, 2014, 10:12:29 AM
and 75k-100k residents living within a three mile radius. While more residents in the Northbank is important, we should not use its lack of residents as an excuse for not being able to achieve great things. We have more than enough to work with already.
Chatanooga has a tad under 3k residents downtown and under 50k residents living in the 'bowl'-which is the equivalent of San Marco, Riverside, Avondale and Springfield. Yet, there were more restaurants open and bustling with customers at dinner time on a Wednesday in a two block square radius downtown Nooga, then a typical Wednesday in
all of downtown Jacksonville (while Five Points is bustling with activity on a Wednesday night).
This isn't just a coincidence.
Quote from: river4340 on May 02, 2014, 08:07:42 AM
You've got 600 apartments that will be finished on Riverside one mile from the Trio.
And how nice would it be for them to jump on the Skyway on Riverside and take to the Hemming Plaza station and walk to the Trio and other places downtown! Of course JTA would also have to run the Skyway weekends and late too.
This is really awesome, this is how it starts!
From the TU article:
QuoteOne of the partners in the chain is Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Phipps said.
He described King Street as a high-end sports bar, that will seat about 150 and have a build-out cost of more than $1 million. It will employ at least 50 people, he said.
"We sell more food than alcohol," he said, "but it's all sports all the time. TVs will be everywhere. I think they've all gone to 72-inches."
The name will stay the same: King Street Grille.
Phipps said he lived in Jacksonville for three years while attending Florida Coastal School of Law.
"I fell in love with Jacksonville," he said, "but then I graduated and had to go home to Charleston.
He said that he and managing partner Scott Kier had been looking at putting a King Street Grille at the Beaches.
"But I came down last year for an alumni function," Phipps said, "And One Spark was going on. I told Scott it might be time to come down and buy a building. 'They're getting ready to breathe a lot of life into downtown.'
http://members.jacksonville.com/entertainment/food-and-dining/2014-05-01/story/high-end-charleston-sc-sports-bar-will-occupy-part
We need more people like this.
However, very sadly the first 2 comments on the TU article are this:
QuoteA couple of months after opening, he will wish that he never came to Jacksonville.
.....
Who do they think will go there?
Evidently they've only seen it in daylight hours
Never read TU comments. Unless you want a reason to become suicidal and/or depressed about humanity.
It's that inferiority complex that seems to pervade the Jacksonville citizenry. Fortunately, that's beginning to change
^Absolutely. All the news lately is good and I'm loving it. Bring it on, my dollars are ready to be spent downtown.
It's a place worth supporting.
I look forward to the grand opening and Metrojacksonville having a big bash there periodically.
Those chicken wings look mighty tasty
The sky way doesn't even meed an operator on board like most cities transit. What's holding that back out of curiosity?
Quote from: AuditoreEnterprise on May 02, 2014, 06:43:36 PM
The sky way doesn't even meed an operator on board like most cities transit. What's holding that back out of curiosity?
Spending $10-$20 million on a system that is widely regarded as the poster child of misguided downtown projects isn't popular.
Cool!
Charleston is a serious foode town so it they are successful there they'll make a great addition to Jacksonville.
Quote from: FSBA on May 02, 2014, 06:52:35 PM
Quote from: AuditoreEnterprise on May 02, 2014, 06:43:36 PM
The sky way doesn't even meed an operator on board like most cities transit. What's holding that back out of curiosity?
Spending $10-$20 million on a system that is widely regarded as the poster child of misguided downtown projects isn't popular.
That's how much it would cost to run it a little later at night?
This is cool! I'm ready to spend $ in DT Jax. TU should turn off comments.
Maybe they need maintenance time? I know the cars have little maintenance houses where they go to sleep :-)
For a mature 27ish year old system I must admit they run quite well.
Quote from: AuditoreEnterprise on May 02, 2014, 08:24:09 PM
Quote from: FSBA on May 02, 2014, 06:52:35 PM
Quote from: AuditoreEnterprise on May 02, 2014, 06:43:36 PM
The sky way doesn't even meed an operator on board like most cities transit. What's holding that back out of curiosity?
Spending $10-$20 million on a system that is widely regarded as the poster child of misguided downtown projects isn't popular.
That's how much it would cost to run it a little later at night?
Sorry, thought you were asking about expanding into Brooklyn.
I remember when a sports bar was failing at the Landing and I talked to the owner who didn't understand it. He had on in Buckhead which was mobbed for Monday Night Football. At the Landing, it was empty. So I told him that people live in Buckhead. In Jacksonville, at least at that time, people aren't going to drive home to Baymeadows on a Monday night, drive back at 9 pm, watch football and drink for four hours then drive home. If they're going to a sports bar, it's going to be close to their homes.
Which leads us back to the original question: Are there enough people living close enough to the Trio? My first thought was no. Not right downtown. But maybe with 220 and the complex next door. Maybe with Riverside itself. Maybe with the Barnett building. And the Marriott right there ... Maybe if Berkman II gets going. ....
Lots of maybes. If I were to guess, I'd say the first few months would be good because it's new. Then there'd be some slow times. But we keep seeing so many signs that downtown is on the verge ...
Quote from: ben says on May 02, 2014, 05:28:33 PM
Never read TU comments. Unless you want a reason to become suicidal and/or depressed about humanity.
agreed. it's really depressing. I'm not sure why it's always so bad. but it is.
Positive.
I wonder how many decent sports bars, with quality food, serve the 75-100k already living within a three mile radius of the Northbank? They should also get a boost from the hotel that will be in the same building.
you would think so since most popular places are usually the hotel restaurants to guests.
Fantastic! This building is a favorite of mine and has been vacant absurdly since before my earliest childhood memory. It would be surreal to see it come to life, when it's only ever been a ghost to me.
Is it okay if I call it the Forsyth Street Grille? ;) (I do seriously wonder if the name will be a point of confusion to some, with Jax having its own well-known King Street and this not being anywhere near it.)