Jacksonville City Council will vote on showing support for economic incentives worth up to $35 million for bringing a Culinary Institute of America campus to downtown that would teach chefs in a famed program that has made its mark on kitchens around the world.
City Council President Kevin Carrico filed the legislation on May 12 that will get a vote as soon as the May 26 council meeting.
Corner Lot Development is proposing to build a tower in downtown that would contain a hotel, culinary school and restaurants on part of a city-owned waterfront site that has been vacant since the demolition of the old county courthouse.
Carrico said the Culinary Institute of America is the “Harvard of culinary institutions” outside possibly some schools in Europe.
“When it comes to American culinary schools, CIA is the top — the creme de la creme,” he said.
The school started New York in 1946 to train members of the military after World War II and still has that military connection, including at its regional campus in San Antonio, a city that is home to military installations just as Jacksonville is.
“So I think Jacksonville has the talent and the workforce and the military and the people that would want to participate in going to a 5-star culinary school,” Carrico said.
He said those graduates in turn will raise the bar for dining in Jacksonville when they go to work at high-end restaurants. He said as downtown grows along the Bay Street waterfront and the Pearl Square district, the Culinary Institute of America would have the same impact in Jacksonville it has had on San Antonio’s dining scene.
“I think having the Culinary Institute of America as a cornerstone of all that is going to be transformational,” he said.
The Culinary Institute of America, whose award-winning graduates include the late Anthony Bourdain, has its main campus in Hyde Park, New York. It also has campuses in San Antonio, in the Wine Country of California and overseas in Singapore. The Netflix series “Next Gen Chef” takes place on the main campus in New York.
The proposed legislation shows Culinary Institute of America’s campus in Jacksonville would contain about 50,000 square feet. The economic incentives from the city would go toward capital costs and workforce development. A proposal attached to the legislation shows the $35 million spread over six years.
The Culinary Institute of America’s board is scheduled to meet in June to consider potential cities in the southeast for creating a new campus. Carrico said approval by council of the legislation would “show the support is real in Jacksonville” for the school to pick it for the campus.
The school still would go through subsequent negotiations of the nitty-gritty of an economic development agreement and the Downtown Investment Authority still would have to vote on the proposed Corner Lot development.
“They’re going to have to go through the full process to get everything baked in to come back to council and for us to find a funding source,” he said.
The Duval County Tourist Development Council has already pledged $1 million for the campus.
The former county courthouse site is between Bay Street and the St. Johns River in a part of downtown that City Council previously identified as a focal point for revitalization. The site is across Bay Street from The Elbow entertainment district that has blocks of nightclubs, music venues and restaurants anchored by the Florida Theatre.
City Council decided in 2025 to set aside $45 million in a special downtown development fund covering several blocks that includes the former county courthouse site. City Council later tapped $15 million from that fund for various higher education and vocational training programs across the city, leaving $30 million in it.
Students in the Culinary Institute of America can earn associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees with majors in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, food business management, hospitality management, culinary science and applied food studies.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: City Council will vote on backing Culinary Institute of America campus
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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