THURSDAY October 25, 2018 jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
The Mathis Report: Publix renovates, adds stores PAGE 4
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legal notices begin on page 1B
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
FOOD Daily Record The Happy Grilled Cheese food truck was launched in 2013. While there’s now a brick-andmortar restaurant Downtown, the truck is still in use.
JACKSONVILLE
TRUCK
RESTAURANT
Warehouse in works for Imeson
JEA document shows 500,000-square-foot facility, 200 workers.
Daily Record Daily Record F TO
JACKSONVILLE
How four Jacksonville businesses made the transition from mobile to traditional. BY DAN MACDONALD
JACKSONVILLE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
ood trucks are becoming a vehicle to open a traditional brickand-mortar restaurant. Once a novelty, food trucks evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry around the nation. Owners are parlaying their vagabond diners into conventional places to eat. The mobile kitchens provide a relatively inexpensive way to enter the restaurant business. Nationally, the startup costs are $50,000-$200,000 depending on truck size and concept, according to Forbes.com. Costs also increase depending on the number of permits a city demands, but those costs are about half the $498,888 or more that it can cost to build a small specialty restaurant, according to a survey of 700 restaurant owners by RestaurantOwner.com Local owners say they like the mobility, and the freedom of setting their hours and location is appealing. At the same time, they say the job presents challenges different from operating a traditional restaurant. Also, those who take the step into a storefront for the most part aren’t ready to park the truck, and keep both going. Here is what four Jacksonville foodtruck operators say about choosing a street address with a front door and four walls. SEE FOOD TRUCKS, PAGE 10
Photo by Dan Macdonald
Anthony Hashem, owner of The Happy Grilled Cheese, started with a food truck and now has a restaurant Downtown at 219 N. Hogan St.
THE BASCH REPORT
Titanic memorabilia sold at auction PAGE 6
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Imeson International Industrial Park is preparing to build an almost 500,000-square-foot warehouse in North Jacksonville that appears to involve 200 jobs, according to a JEA document. No tenant is identified for the roughly 480,000-square-foot building, which is planned on 31 acres at 250 Busch Drive E. JEA and city Planning Department documents show the property will have 102 loading bays, 337 parking spaces, and 133 spaces for trailer parking. The JEA’s description calls it a “478,000-square-foot warehouse with 200 employees and 102 loading bays.” The property is owned by Orlando-based Industrial Park Investments Inc. President Dan Webb could not be reached for comment. The site is at southeast Busch Drive East and North Main Street in Imeson International Industrial Park. Agent EnVision Design Plus Engineering LLC sought information from JEA about the availability of electric, potable water, sanitary sewer and reclaimed water service. The Planning Department is reviewing site plans. Industrial Park Investments also is working on a 182,910-square-foot addition to a previously permitted 140,833-square-foot building on 11.5 acres under development nearby at 10531 Busch Drive. That addition boosts the building to 323,743 square feet.
KMATHIS@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466
LAW & THE COURTS
The Marbut Report PAGE 12 Doctor, nurse on legal team at Smith Hulsey & Busey PAGE 13
VOLUME 105, NO. 241 • TWO SECTIONS