More coming to St Johns Town Center

[ProjectMaximus]

Houston-based Stanmore Partners is under contract to buy land near St. Johns Town Center for a 347-unit apartment community, sparking the first signs of development there for Preferred Growth Properties.
The project, called Ravella at Town Center Apartment Homes, would be developed at northwest Town Center and Midtown parkways on land Stanmore would buy from Preferred Growth Properties.

First, Birmingham, Ala.-based Preferred Growth Properties must complete its acquisition of 61.35 acres from the Arthur Chester Skinner III Trust. That deal is expected to close Jan. 28.

Jason Schlanger, managing director of multifamily for Stanmore, said the group is under contract to purchase the land for development and anticipates completing the deal in the second quarter next year. He declined further details.

Plans being reviewed by the city show a one-phase development on almost 6.6 acres between Town Center Parkway and Lake Meadowbrook. An entrance would be at the Midtown Parkway traffic light.

The land is now wooded and vacant.

Plans aren't highly detailed yet, but they indicate a single, large building footprint with two courtyards and a seven-level parking garage within it. There also is a pool courtyard facing Lake Meadowbrook.

The city is reviewing the plans for Planned Unit Development verification as well as the concurrency capacity. England, Thims & Miller is the project agent and engineer.

Preferred Growth Properties would buy and own the land through PGP Jacksonville TC LLC. Preferred Growth is a subsidiary of Books-A-Million.

In May, the Skinner family designated PGP Jacksonville TC LLC as its successor within a Transportation Management Area development agreement in December 1998. That allowed PGP to apply for a conditional capacity statement. PGP authorized Stanmore Partners and its agent to apply for a companion concurrency statement.

Stanmore Partners' website, stanmorepartners.com, shows three Ravella-branded projects, with one leasing, one under construction and one to start construction in January. All are in Texas.

For a sense of the Ravella plans, consider the new Ravella at Kingwood Apartment Homes in Kingwood, Texas. That is a two- and three-story rental community within the master-planned Village at Northpark.

Its 264 units range from 709 to 1,689 square feet in size and they comprise one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including two-story townhomes with attached garages. Apartments.com reports rents range from $995 to $2,295 a month.

Units include wood-like flooring, granite countertops, custom cabinets with under-cabinet lighting, appliances and full-size washers and dryers.

Community amenities include a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse with a 24-hour fitness club, conference room, business center, latte lounge and game rooms.

There also is a pool with cabanas and fire pits, a "Dog Spaw" for pet grooming and a bike repair and storage shop site.

Ravella at Eastpoint in Baytown is a $36 million, 283-unit project that began construction in August. The $60 million, 318-unit Ravella Memorial Villages should start construction in January.

Those two projects average a cost of $157,943 a unit, which indicates the size of the Jacksonville project could mean a $54.8 million development.

Preferred Growth Properties can develop about 45 acres of the site it will buy. Permitted uses are up to 500,000 square feet of enclosed retail and commercial space, 100,000 square feet of office space, 400 hotel rooms and 500 multifamily residential units.

The company plans to pay for traffic improvements that will add turn lanes, access points and a trail for pedestrians, runners and bicycles.

Skinners preparing for more development

Construction in the St. Johns Town Center area means developers might need dirt to fill sites.

To make that available, the A.C. Skinner III Trust will construct a borrow pit off of Burnt Mill Road, which connects with Gate Parkway.

Chip Skinner with the trust said it intends to make use of the dirt to fill some of the sites it sells in the area, but it also would be available for other projects if it has the capacity.

The city and the St. Johns River Water Management District are reviewing plans for the 19-acre project.

Costco Wholesale wants to expand its St. Johns Town Center area wholesale store at 4901 Gate Parkway, plans with the St. Johns River Water Management District show.

Those plans indicate Costco wants to expand the building by 7,404 square feet next to its tire center. The more than 151,000-square-foot store was built in 2000 on more than 13 acres.

Plans do not indicate the reason or use of the expansion.

PJ Faria, a spokeswoman for Costco Wholesale Corp., said as a policy, the company does not comment about specific locations.

Meanwhile, the store also is remodeling its optical department at a proposed cost of $44,000, according to a building-permit application.

http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546483

[Captain Zissou]

It says one building, but as an idea of scale, Broadstone River House is proposed to take up 3.7 acres, which is 2.5 fewer acres.  Maybe it will look like Bell Riverside, which is one connected structure, but a sprawling building.

[ProjectMaximus]

^Yeah probably. Plus a seven-level parking garage!

[brainstormer]

It's exciting to have more apartment complexes building parking structures within their overall footprints. Broadstone on the Southbank and the LaVilla Senior Apartment proposal also include parking within the building. The Lake Lofts at Deerwood also has a parking garage.

[spuwho]

Odd that Costco would expand now. They are building out their new store on Collins Road and 295. 

That is going take about 15-20% of their business west.

[jcjohnpaint]

Costco is building a store on the west side? 

[RattlerGator]

Costco is building a store on the west side?

Orange Park; Collins Road at 295 -- but the build-out that's happening now is the Walmart Supercenter, I do believe. Here's the latest I've seen about the developments at that intersection:

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544688

Costco taking steps in Westside

Property owner Harmony Farms of Jacksonville submitted a concurrency application to the city for the proposed 153,041-square-foot Costco Wholesale planned at southwest Interstate 295 and Collins Road.

Costco Wholesale wants to build on the 16.61-acre site. City Council enacted a development agreement with Harmony Farms to develop 285,000 square feet of shopping center uses on 40 acres there.

Thomas Engineering Co. of Tampa is the agent.

The site is across Collins Road from a new Walmart Supercenter that will be developed at northwest I-295 and Collins Road.

If you grew up in that area, you know that Collins Road is technically in Duval County but has always been considered Orange Park; O.P. telephone numbers back in the day, etc.

[thelakelander]

Hobby Lobby coming too:

by Karen Brune Mathis

Hobby Lobby confirmed it intends to open in the Strand retail center opposite St. Johns Town Center.
The Strand is the retail part of the 61.35 acres under contract to Preferred Growth Properties along Town Center Parkway at Gate Parkway.

Preferred Growth, a subsidiary of Birmingham, Ala.-based Books-A-Million, intends to buy the property in January from the Arthur Chester III Trust.

Hobby Lobby is the first retailer to confirm it will open at the site. Hobby Lobby spokesman Zack Higbee said the company plans on opening in mid-2017.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546513

[InnerCityPressure]

^

Yeah.  Found out the hard way on Saturday that the one at Regency shut down...

[CCMjax]

Are there any plans to build a bridge over Butler to Gate Pkwy from the TC?  Maybe lining up with River City Drive?  With more to come and only 2 ways out of this cluster-F of a development, I have to imagine they will eventually start thinking about another way to get people in and out.  Being right in the armpit of the interchange with no way out in that direction is a source of a lot of the traffic issues.

[camarocane]

Are there any plans to build a bridge over Butler to Gate Pkwy from the TC?

No plans, dont think it would be feasible.

[thelakelander]

No plans. It would require some private entity to pay for it. Paying for a bridge would most likely tear apart a project's proforma. Get used to sitting in traffic.

[CCMjax]

No plans. It would require some private entity to pay for it. Paying for a bridge would most likely tear apart a project's proforma. Get used to sitting in traffic.

It's ok, I don't really go there that much so not a big deal.  Can't imagine living in those apartments on the backside of it against the highway and the traffic madness they are about to experience  just trying to leave to go somewhere.

[ProjectMaximus]

No plans. It would require some private entity to pay for it. Paying for a bridge would most likely tear apart a project's proforma. Get used to sitting in traffic.

Or for all the developers to create a TIF. If traffic gets to the point where it starts affecting bottom lines, I could see it happening. Eventually.

[thelakelander]

There's already something in place. However, it's not set up to pay for an overpass.