MONDAY June 22, 2020
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: YOUR INSIGHT
Committee preparing city for RNC is named
Loyal clientele Daily Record helps preserve Daily Record restaurant sale JACKSONVILLE
JACKSONVILLE
The Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee includes lawmakers, government officials and business leaders.
BY MONTY ZICKUHR MANAGING EDITOR
Jonathan Eddy was about to close on Sorrento Italian Restaurant when the pandemic hit. He decided to go through with the deal.
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
The Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention announced its 32 members in a news release June 18. The group is preparing the city for the Aug. 24-27 event Downtown that will culminate with the nomination and acceptance speech by President Donald Trump at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. “Community and business leaders from here in Jacksonville and across the Sunshine State are sharing their time, talent and experience to ensure Jacksonville is able to host a successful convention for our visitors on this expedited timeframe,” said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, committee co-chair, in the news release. Co-chair with Curry is Ballard Partners President Brian Ballard. The group includes U.S. Rep. John Rutherford and eight other federal, state and city lawmakers. Other members include John Baker, chairman and CEO of FRP Holdings Inc.; UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon L. Haley Jr.; and Aundra Wallace, JAXUSA Partnership president.
Not much could have made Jonathan Eddy question his decision to purchase Sorrento Italian Restaurant from longtime owner Luciano Russo – except for a global pandemic. Just as Eddy was about to close on the $550,000 sale of the 3,600-square-foot Sorrento building, Gov. Ron DeSantis shuttered dining rooms at restaurants across the state, forcing them to serve customers with to-go orders only. “It was a tenuous week leading up to the closing,” Eddy said. He consulted friends, family and business contacts, seeking advice on what to do. He was torn between buying the restaurant or waiting for a better deal. “Every day I was thinking, who can I call, who can I get counsel from,” he said. “I talked to one person who said ‘Run the hell away,’ and the next person is like, ‘Think through this.’” Despite advice from some who told him to walk away, one friend told Eddy to focus on the positive, and not the unknowns of the situation. “A friend of mine that I was talking to encouraged me to focus on what I did know. And what I did know and was confident in was that there was a 34-year history at Sorrento. And I did know there was a faithful, loyal clientele,” he said. “That really gave us some peace.” Ultimately, Eddy bought the restaurant March 23, three days after dining rooms were ordered closed. Gary Montour, senior director with Colliers International’s Jacksonville office, represented Russo in the sale to Eddy through Eddy
Special to the Daily Record
New Sorrento Italian Restaurant owner Jonathan Eddy, chef Nedal Mardini, previous owner Luciano Russo and Gary Montour, senior director with Colliers International’s Jacksonville office.
Holdings LLC. The business was sold separately, but the price was not disclosed. “I think the more (Eddy) got to meet Luciano, and the more he looked online and saw all the happy people, he knew he was buying something special,” Montour said. The next day, Eddy opened the restaurant for takeout, serving 50 meals that night. Throughout the shutdown, takeout was up and down, he said. But it “did help pay the bills.” As a higher-end restaurant, takeout was more difficult and often lacked additional sales of
KEEPING CLOSE – FROM A DISTANCE On May 4, the state began a phased reopening of businesses shut down to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Daily Record is reporting on small businesses as they confront the challenges of social distancing and financial hardships brought on by the pandemic and its aftermath.
MZICKUHR@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
THE LIST All 32 members of the Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention. PAGE 2
SEE SORRENTO, PAGE 2
DIA approves Independent Life Building deal The city is reviewing a permit application for interior demolition of the historic Independent Life Building Downtown. Permitting review is underway after the Downtown Investment Authority board voted June 17 to approve a term sheet with Augustine Development Group subsidiary PEP10 LLC that includes a $3 million city Historic Preservation and Revitalization Trust Fund grant. The proposed $30 million renovation includes space for a 21,000-square-foot grocery store, 140 apartments, a parking garage and top-floor restaurant. The deal approved by the DIA must be approved by City Council.
VOLUME 107, NO. 153 • ONE SECTION