St. Joe giving up on RiverTown

[thelakelander]

St. Joe is selling RiverTown for $43.6 million to Mattamy Homes. Construction on the development began in 2006. It was supposed to have as many as 4,500 homes. According to the article, they've only sold 86 so far.

"I felt it was a little far off the beaten path," said Brenda Perkins with Bloom Realty. "Most people want to go to Nocatee or Durbin Crossing. "It's a nice community and it sounded good when it started out. But it didn't pan out."

full article: http://members.jacksonville.com/business/2014-01-07/story/st-joe-selling-rivertown-436-million

[acme54321]

Drove by there on Sunday.  It looks nice, but it's in BFE.

[CityLife]

Wait...so its not "bustin at the seams"?

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-jan-rivertown-bustin-at-the-seams

[peestandingup]

It busted alright.

[CityLife]

I know the development was hindered somewhat by the market crash, but you could also say the same for Nocatee and Durbin Crossing and both are doing fairly well...I hope the project serves as a cautionary tale to local developers considering leapfrong developments in the middle of nowhere. There are no grocers, no restaurants, no entertainment nearby, and possibly most importantly, the commute times are ridiculous to any employment centers. About a year ago I was working in St. Augustine and had an opportunity to build there at a 15% discount from market rates (family member works for a company that builds there) and didn't even seriously consider it for all those reasons. Had the same offer at Nocatee and did consider, but passed. Nocatee is also a leapfrong type development, but commute times aren't nearly as bad and its closer to the beach, St. Auggie, and the Southside. Nocatee likely won't be nearly as isolated as it now is in about 5-10 years.

Why buy in a TND in the middle of nowhere when you can get the real thing in the Urban Core or at the Beach?