A rendering shows the $160 million hotel, convention center and office project proposed by Corner Lot and investment partner Aspect Holdings LLC on the Northbank of Downtown Jacksonville. | Jacksonville Daily Record
Published on May 28, 2026 at 3:06 pm
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The Culinary Institute of America is comparing an expansion campus proposed for the Downtown Jacksonville riverfront to what it opened in San Antonio nearly 18 years ago.
Robert Jones, vice president of strategic initiatives of the institute, told City Council on Tuesday that, if its board selects Jacksonville for its Southeast U.S. campus next month, the site will likely provide veteran workforce training programs similar to what it offers in Texas.
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“Our San Antonio campus has been rightly compared as our best-fitting model for potential expansion in Jacksonville,” Jones said. “San Antonio is home to five major military bases and the (Culinary Institute) has provided workforce development training to all of them.”
The council voted 16-2 earlier this week on legislation that sets aside $35 million for a $160.5 million project of developer Corner Lot Development Group to house the institute’s future campus.
Typically, City Council would not preemptively vote on providing incentives for a private urban core development project before the Downtown Investment Authority had negotiated and voted on the terms of the deal.
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But City Council President Kevin Carrico, who introduced Ordinance 2026-0419, wanted to show a level of commitment before the institute made its final decision on where it would expand into the Southeast.
According to JAXUSA President Aundra Wallace, the institute’s board of directors will vote on a Jacksonville expansion at its next meeting, on June 15 and 16.
“But if you take this step this evening, this gives us, the Downtown Investment Authority, and others the opportunity to continue to negotiate with the Culinary Institute of America,” Wallace said.
San Antonio = Jacksonville?
Council Vice President Nick Howland, a U.S Navy veteran, noted the comparison between San Antonio and Jacksonville’s veteran population when the legislation was debated by council’s Finance Committee last week.
With its U.S. naval presence, veterans census data from 2023 compiled by Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration shows an estimated 78,657 veterans living in Duval County. In Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio, local officials say there is a veterans population of approximately 156,000.
The institute has been working with the U.S. Air Force in 2017 in its Go For Green program to help the Department of Defence update hundreds of recipes and train military cooks to prepare “nutrient dense meals that enhance physical performance and troop readiness,” Jones said.
The institute, headquartered in Hyde Park, New York, has satellite campuses in California, Texas and Singapore. Jones says the institute could do similar military jobs programs in Jacksonville.
“And through our pro-chef certification program, service members and veterans receive industry recognized certification to create a more seamless pathway into civilian life after they leave the service,” Jones said.
In pitching the institute to city leaders, Jones said its San Antonio campus brought culinary training to the local school district’s food service workers and helped lower the cost of a school meal by 4 cents per student. He says that saved the city $3 million per year.
330 E. Bay St.
The bill approved this week does not authorize or allocate incentive dollars to the project. It only endorses continued negotiations to get to an eventual $35 million deal.
Documents filed with the bill say that Jacksonville’s Tourist Development Council is also trying to identify up to $1 million in other city projects eligible for its funding to free up city dollars for the institute. The development council cannot provide direct funding to the project, according to city attorneys.
In addition to the 25,000 square feet of office space for the institute for a kitchen and classrooms, Corner Lot wants to build a 14-story tower with a hotel and 600-person capacity convention hall at 330 E. Bay St.
It’s in talks with the Downtown Investment Authority to get control of what was previously known as the Ford on Bay — the former riverfront Duval County Courthouse and City Hall site that was cleared in 2019. The hotel and institute campus would be built on 0.8 acres of the property.
Council members Rory Diamond and Mike Gay voted no on the bill Tuesday. Council member Will Lahnen was not present for the vote.
Any incentives deal would have to come back to City Council for final approval and be signed by the mayor.
