19 Aug CRA Board Approves Incentive to Renovate and Build Out a Blighted Building into a New Restaurant on the Sistrunk Corridor
On August 16, 2022, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board of Commissioners approved to award a Development Incentive Program (DIP) forgivable loan in the amount of $1,125,000 to Food Friends Catering, LLC to renovate a blighted two-story building into a new restaurant on the Historic Sistrunk Corridor. The Board of Commissioners also approved a resolution waiving the minimum project cost requirements and minimum developer’s contribution requirements under the (DIP) program.
Food Friends Catering, LLC plans to establish the “Food Friends Southern Comfort Kitchen & Bar” (Food Friends) at 1310-1312 Sistrunk Boulevard. The proposed restaurant will focus on Southern comfort foods and feature a catering hub specializing in serving Latin, Asian and Caribbean cuisines. The restaurants menu will entail traditional dishes such as fried cheese grits with shrimp, lobster mac & cheese, cornbread, pulled porksliders, drop biscuits, red velvet cake, and many others.
The renovations to the building , which is in currently in severe disrepair and has stood vacant for many years, will include the build – out of a approximately 3,012 square-foot, upscale two-story restaurant and bar with a patio and indoor and outdoor dining.
Food Friends Catering, LLC is a family-owned business, established in 2017 by Kenrith Lawrence. The company is currently a full-service catering company, specializing in “Southern Comfort” foods and other cuisines such as Latin, Asian, Caribbean and others. Their passion, knowledge, and experience in the culinary industry, as well as their dedication to exceptional service has allowed them to become one of South Florida’s
most reputable and affordable caterers.
Food Friends priorities is to create jobs for the community and to provide quality training opportunities. The company is dedicated to hire not only the best professionals for their business, but also people without training and those who may need another chance in life. Their hybrid business model is focused on hiring local servers, cooks, and bar tenders from various backgrounds, with a willingness to learn, grow and succeed.
The restaurant plans to initially provide jobs to at least 19 employees and to hire from the CRA area once open.
The CRA’s Development Incentive Program (DIP) is in place to eliminate slum and blight by attracting new businesses to the CRA and retaining and allowing existing businesses to expand within the CRA. The minimum project cost requirements to be eligible for DIP funding must exceed $5,000,000 and the program requires a dollar for dollar match of the CRA investment in the project. For more information about CRA incentives, visit www.fortlauderdalecra.com.
Consistency with the NPF CRA Community Redevelopment Plan
The NPF CRA Community Redevelopment Plan is designed in part, to stimulate private development of areas planned for commercial development. The project is consistent with the NPF CRA Community Redevelopment Plan which provides for direct physical improvements to remove slum and blight, enhance the overall environment, improve the quality of life and attract sound business and commercial development that provide employment and job opportunities.
Per the CRA plan, the CRA will establish incentive programs to address redevelopment obstacles and identifies strategic objectives, goals and measurements that include targeting and attracting businesses, retail uses and industries to establish a presence in the redevelopment area. In addition, it calls for investing in development projects that create job opportunities for area residents, promote public private partnerships and
investment in the redevelopment area.