Building Up Jax: Brewery drama, Avenues Walk, and Wawa

Check out the latest Jacksonville development and construction news in this week’s edition of Building Up Jax!

Bold City Brewery tap room closes, then re-opens

A bizarre incident unfolded this week involving Bold City Brewery’s tap room in Riverside.

After a routine inspection, the fire marshal shut down the brewery’s tap room at 2670 Rosselle St. Apparently the property’s certificate of use did not allow for the operation of a tap room alongside the brewery’s operations.

But here’s where things get strange: that tap room had operated without issue for eight years prior to this week. The property had been inspected at least three times prior to this latest inspection that prompted the shutdown.

According to the city’s fire chief, previous inspectors had just assumed the brewery had the proper paperwork to operate the tap room. According to the brewery’s owner, the brewery was under the impression that they did have proper approval from the city.

It all culminated in a one-day shutdown, followed by a reprieve being granted the next day. The tap room was allowed to re-open, but is limited to an occupancy of 40. Additionally, the brewery was ordered to stop holding yoga classes on the property. They have a month to straighten out the issues with the city.

Overall, it was a strange incident that was handled rather sloppily by the city.

Wawa on Bowden plans submitted

Site plans were submitted this week for a future Wawa location at the corner of Philips Highway and Bowden Rd.

The plans call for a 6,100 square foot Wawa convenience store with eight dispensing stations facing Philips. There will be entrances to the station from Philips and Bowden, as well as a path through the parking lot of the nearby Burger King along University Blvd.

Avenues Walk Phase 2 back on?

Plans for the second phase of Avenues Walk were re-submitted to the St. Johns Water Management District last week.

Phase 2 was originally expected to begin shortly after the completion of the first phase, but the recession played a role in delaying construction. The plans show a stretch of shops to be constructed near Mikado Japanese Steakhouse.

The first phase of the center features Mikado, Walmart, and Dollar Tree among others.

The application included a request to extend the existing permits for two years, allowing developers extra time to bring the project to fruition.

Noted projects

• Ovinte at the St. Johns Town Center shut its doors for good this past Monday. The restaurant’s website refers to the closure as a “business decision.”
• The city fire marshal also shut down a portion of CoRK Arts District along Rosselle St. this week, according to their Facebook page. They plan to fix the problem and fully re-open within a few weeks.
• If you see construction begin soon at the corner of Beach and Kernan boulevards, don’t get too excited. It’s just an existing retention pond being expanded.