A historic Bay Street storefront in Downtown Jacksonville's Elbow district is being transformed into Besa Bakery and Tea Room Speakeasy, a European-style bakery by day that shifts into a cocktail and dessert destination once the sun goes down. The roughly 3,590-square-foot space at 301 E. Bay Street is currently under construction, with the Downtown Investment Authority listing the project as in progress and no opening date yet announced.
The concept comes from the same ownership group behind several other East Bay Street ventures, and it's backed by real public money. According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, the Downtown Investment Authority board voted 7-0 in June 2025 to grant final approval for $215,000 in public incentives for the project, made up of a $200,000 Targeted Food and Beverage Retail Enhancement Program grant and a $15,000 Sidewalk Enhancement Grant. As reported by WhatNow, the build-out is estimated to cost $550,000, per Downtown Investment Authority figures.
Those incentive dollars come with strings attached. The city funding is structured as a five-year, zero-interest forgivable loan that amortizes at 20% per year, but only if the venue maintains continuous, uninterrupted operations, the Daily Record's report on the DIA vote notes. That performance requirement means Besa has to actually stay open for half a decade to see the full public investment forgiven.
A Bakery With a Split Personality
Per WhatNow, Besa will operate as a European-style bakery focused on pastries and baked goods during the daytime, then pivot into desserts, cocktails and an intimate tea-room experience in the evening, complete with a speakeasy component and nightlife element. Menu projections filed in a DIA staff report and cited by the Daily Record sketch out what that might look like on the plate: croissants starting at $4.95, cannoli at $6.95 for two, tiramisu for $8.95, and pizzas ranging from $13.95 to $16.95.
The building itself carries some history. Besa will occupy the ground floor of the Churchwell Lofts, a structure built in 1905 and named for C.W. Churchwell, who sold dry goods, shoes and notions at the address starting in the 1920s, according to DTJax. Besa Bakery LLC is the company behind the project.
One Ownership Group, an Entire Block
Besa is one piece of a coordinated push by the same investment team along the 300 block of East Bay Street. The joint venture behind the project, 323 E. Bay Street LLC and Illyria Properties 6 LLC, is led by nightlife operators Eric Fuller, Evanc "Evan" Rajita, Aleksander Lukaj and Shawn Rouf, the same group that opened the 1,000-capacity Decca Live concert venue and Keane's Irish Pub nearby, per the Daily Record's reporting.
That flagship venue, Decca Live, opened in a historic 1904 building at 323 E. Bay St. in January 2025 as a multi-level concert venue and rooftop lounge, built out with $1.5 million in city assistance, and Mayor Donna Deegan attended the ribbon-cutting, according to Jacksonville Today. In May 2026, the DIA board approved another $200,000 in incentives for the same ownership group to build Hi Fi Lounge, a vinyl-record listening room and restaurant planned for the second floor of 315 E. Bay St. — a project Hoodline covered in its earlier report on the vinyl lounge grant.
City Incentives Meet a Shaky Downtown Dining Scene
The city's willingness to fund this cluster of projects traces back to a program the Downtown Investment Authority created in 2020. That agency established the Targeted Food and Beverage Retail Enhancement Program with $3 million earmarked to concentrate dining and nightlife in two zones, including The Elbow district where Besa is located, with grants covering up to 50% of eligible build-out expenses.
Not every East Bay Street venture has fared well recently. Downtown Jacksonville's dining scene has faced real turbulence, with long-standing spots including Bellwether and Intuition Ale Works' East Bay Street taproom announcing closures this spring, as Hoodline reported in its piece on two downtown restaurants closing; Bellwether's owner had cited rising food costs in the prior year, while Intuition's owner cited rising costs and slower-than-hoped-for downtown growth. That backdrop underscores the challenge facing Besa and its neighbors: public incentives can offset the upfront cost of building out a space, but keeping customers coming back every day is a separate fight entirely.
For now, Besa Bakery and Tea Room Speakeasy remains under construction, and no opening date has been announced. WhatNow reports that more details are expected as the business moves closer to opening its doors on Bay Street.
