More coming to St Johns Town Center

[CityLife]

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.

I think you mean a BID. The SJTC wouldn't meet the definition of slum and blight necessary to get a TIF approved and I doubt the city would go for it either.

[spuwho]

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

The new apt homes are going across TC Parkway from Fidelity Investments/ChikFilA.

Hobby Lobby is going in between them and Gate Parkway with Books A Million. Chase is building a new branch just north of Bonos on Gate.

TopGolf is going north on TC Parkway across from Publix.

I havent heard where Red Robin is going specifically. I can assume either next to Chase on Gate or across from Arbys on TC Parkway.

The traffic in/out of SJTC and choke points are more on the Gate Parkway side and less so on the St Johns Bluff side as it causes backups onto JTB.

I have said it before, but SJTC needs a backside drive that acts as a releiver for Gate. A direct exit from JTB East into Big Island Drive would do wonders.

[mtraininjax]

The traffic in/out of SJTC and choke points are more on the Gate Parkway side and less so on the St Johns Bluff side as it causes backups onto JTB.

Get ready for Blanding Blvd Style Traffic day in, day out, like they have from 295 to the OP Mall. Its gonna be brutal!

[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.

I think you mean a BID. The SJTC wouldn't meet the definition of slum and blight necessary to get a TIF approved and I doubt the city would go for it either.

Perhaps, cause I don't really know! I was introduced to the concept of TIF when it was bandied about as a source of funding for a Skyway extension into San Marco by the merchants in San Marco. Also know it came up in Khan's proposal for the Shipyards. But it's entirely possible people were using the term TIF as a descriptor when it wasn't actually a TIF.

[CCMjax]

The traffic in/out of SJTC and choke points are more on the Gate Parkway side and less so on the St Johns Bluff side as it causes backups onto JTB.

Get ready for Blanding Blvd Style Traffic day in, day out, like they have from 295 to the OP Mall. Its gonna be brutal!

I can't even imagine how bad it is going to get.  In the words of Stephen Dare . . . it is going to be Cray Cray!

[CityLife]

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.

I think you mean a BID. The SJTC wouldn't meet the definition of slum and blight necessary to get a TIF approved and I doubt the city would go for it either.

Perhaps, cause I don't really know! I was introduced to the concept of TIF when it was bandied about as a source of funding for a Skyway extension into San Marco by the merchants in San Marco. Also know it came up in Khan's proposal for the Shipyards. But it's entirely possible people were using the term TIF as a descriptor when it wasn't actually a TIF.

TIF is a type of financing where a municipal taxing entity gives up a portion future tax revenue gains in a defined redevelopment area (CRA).  However, a CRA has to meet criteria of "slum and blight" to get designated as one. SJTC would not be able to meet that. Regency would. The Skyway can be funded through TIF because it is within the Downtown Jax CRA.

A BID would be more feasible around the SJTC area. BID's are a self assessed tax based on property value. The property owners in the area would have to lobby or consent to it. For instance if they did want better public transportation in the area or roadway improvements that aren't in any COJ capital improvements plan, they could take it upon themselves to fund those things through BID assessments. Given the SJTC's role in the local economy and growing clout, I think they won't have a hard time getting COJ to pay for improvements.

[ProjectMaximus]

^makes sense, thanks for explainin!

[MusicMan]

Went to the TESLA Grand Opening today at SJTC.

This is a great addition to the Jacksonville market

I believe they opened well ahead of schedule.

[southsider1015]

I thought Top Golf is to be located just west of I-295, up against the Interstate, and not across from Publix, north of TC Parkway.

No?

[river4340]

I thought Top Golf is to be located just west of I-295, up against the Interstate, and not across from Publix, north of TC Parkway.

No?

It's going in down Brightman Boulevard, which is the road that comes off Town Center Parkway and runs on the northside of the Publix.

[jaxjags]

Looks like they are clearing the land for Top Golf now.

[southsider1015]

I thought Top Golf is to be located just west of I-295, up against the Interstate, and not across from Publix, north of TC Parkway.

No?

It's going in down Brightman Boulevard, which is the road that comes off Town Center Parkway and runs on the northside of the Publix.

You mean east, right?  The north side of Publix is TC Parkway.  Brightman runs north/south.

[I-10east]

 The St Johns Town Center announces new restaurants and stores.

Denim & Soul
Francesca's Collections
Chicken Salad Chick
Noodles and Company
Pieology

Recent openings...

Tossgreen
Uniformi-T

http://jacksonville.com/business/2016-02-18/story/st-johns-town-center-announces-new-restaurants-stores

[KenFSU]

^Renna's closed?

When did this happen?

[I-10east]

^^^I dunno.