Development in Clay County

[jandar]

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor.../bus_clay.shtml

Anyone seen this yet? News to me, and I live 1 mile from this proposed spot.

70 million dollars, ~500,000 sq feet of retail space, 58 acres.

Combine this with the Oakleaf Plantation Town Center, 850,000 sq feet retail.

http://www.sembler.com/synopsisSheets/Oakleaf.pdf

Looks like Orange Park Mall might be hurting soon.

[JaxNole]

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor.../bus_clay.shtml

Anyone seen this yet? News to me, and I live 1 mile from this proposed spot.

70 million dollars, ~500,000 sq feet of retail space, 58 acres.

Combine this with the Oakleaf Plantation Town Center, 850,000 sq feet retail.

http://www.sembler.com/synopsisSheets/Oakleaf.pdf

Looks like Orange Park Mall might be hurting soon.

OLTC looks like a footprint for a Wal-Mart or Target and a Lowe's or Home Depot. There's one on 220 on Fleming Island. Why create something so similar? I wish retail would be incorporated with residential and that "town centers" actually were more than an updated outdoor mall.

[Urban_Legend]

^Agreed. Sadly, even Jax's attempt at the "town center" ended up having a sea of parking....

[jandar]

OLTC is in Jacksonville, Duval County side. Hence the no regulations on how to build it.

This new development will be interesting to see how it's planned due to the building restrictions set forth in the Branan Field Master Plan:

http://www.claycountygov.com/Planning/Plan...Regulations.pdf

More on this new development area:

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor..._20852719.shtml

You have a Super Walmart and a Home Depot as anchors in a nearby (less than 1 mile) from this site. All in all, close to 1.4 million sq feet of retail space for this area. All governed by land use. This should prevent parking lot cities like what is prevalant on the southside (SJTC) and Fleming Island.

This should be interesting to see how development deals with the regulations in place.

[simms3]

^How would that prevent parking lot cities, even Blanding Blvd itself can be considered a parking lot. Clay county is just as sprawly as any other periphery non-inner city are of NE FL imo.

[jandar]

^How would that prevent parking lot cities, even Blanding Blvd itself can be considered a parking lot. Clay county is just as sprawly as any other periphery non-inner city are of NE FL imo.

The master plan requires parking lots that are massive to be broken up by pedestrian walkways, landscaping, etc.

For example, a walk of 200 feet to the store is not allowed, they would have to build a pedestrian walkway at least 6 feet wide, with landscaping on both sides. No more walking down the road to get to the store.

At least 15% of the whole parking lot must be landscaped. etc, etc....

The master plan for this area is pretty strict. Ive yet to see anything in Jax area that would be ok in it. Too much parking lot or too many stores/dining establishments.

You cant even build a new store in this area with more than 2 rows of gas pumps.

Read the master plan PDF from page 80 on, it gives you a pretty good idea. First realistic controlled growth plan Ive seen in all of NE Florida.

[frag24]

The master plan requires parking lots that are massive to be broken up by pedestrian walkways, landscaping, etc.

For example, a walk of 200 feet to the store is not allowed, they would have to build a pedestrian walkway at least 6 feet wide, with landscaping on both sides. No more walking down the road to get to the store.

At least 15% of the whole parking lot must be landscaped. etc, etc....

The master plan for this area is pretty strict. Ive yet to see anything in Jax area that would be ok in it. Too much parking lot or too many stores/dining establishments.

You cant even build a new store in this area with more than 2 rows of gas pumps.

Read the master plan PDF from page 80 on, it gives you a pretty good idea. First realistic controlled growth plan Ive seen in all of NE Florida.

Any news yet, as to when OLTC will start?

[jandar]

Any news yet, as to when OLTC will start?

Ive heard groundbreaking in sping of 2007. But Im wondering what the new development 5 miles away her in Clay County is going to do to thier plans.

The 2 big box store centers, plus the upscale mall just down the road might end up changing a few plans. Add to that a new development in the works of a mixed use officepark/retail center as well in this little area and OLTC is looking less and less like a hot spot to build at all.

Im curious to know more on this office space being developed to see what comes of it. Clay County needs more higher paid jobs, not just more houses.

[Schade]

OLTC looks like a footprint for a Wal-Mart or Target and a Lowe's or Home Depot. There's one on 220 on Fleming Island. Why create something so similar? I wish retail would be incorporated with residential and that "town centers" actually were more than an updated outdoor mall.

ArchitecturePlus Intl., the firm that is designing Oakleaf Town Center, has some cool conceptual photos of Oakleaf Town Center up on thier site at http://www.apiplus.com/main.htm.

Click on portfolio, then on centers, and then click on one of the photos in the top row. The mall would be pretty nice if it actually turned out anything like the photos show.

I'm really hoping they get a Super Target, a movie theatre and some decent restaurants. Would also be nice if the mall was well landscaped and a pleasant place to spend the afternoon at - not just another plain-jane strip mall as depicted in the Sembler diagram.

[Urban_Legend]

Wow, those renderings look great! I hope the actual project lives up to the renderings. It looks more "urban" than the St. Johns town center....

[Schade]

Wow, those renderings look great! I hope the actual project lives up to the renderings. It looks more "urban" than the St. Johns town center....

Yes - it will be very intersting to see the finised product. The west side of Jacksonville could really use an outside mall like the one in the conceptual drawings. It is going to be interesting to see how this all works out with so many shopping centers going in at the same time and going after many of the same tentants.

The 860,000 sf Sembler project on Argyle Forest and Branan Field is just a few miles north of the 490,000 Eastborne Investment project called, "Avery Village." ( Branan Field and Old Jenning's Road)

These both appear to be upscale open-air malls a la St. John's Town Center or Downtown Disney. The conceptual drawings for each look very similar.

And just south a little bit more, at Blanding Blvd., you a new Wal-Mart (...sigh....like we need another one) on one side of Branan Field Rd. and Kimco Realty Corp.'s Plantation Crossing on the other. Kimco Crossing Article

Plantation Crossing is a 350,000 Home Depot anchored center on the corner of Branan Field Road and Blanding Blvd. This looks like a pretty standard strip mall, but it will still have some nice pedestrian-friendly features curtousey of the Branan Field Land use Plan like walk ways with shade trees and a center-piece fountain. An illistration showing the site can be seen at the www.kimcorealty.com website at Plantation Crossing

And finally - Simon is sinking a whole bunch of money into Orange Park Mall. Redoing some store fronts and adding quite a bit of square feet (Dick's sporting goods, etc). Maybe too little too late- plus that whole Orange Park Mall area is kind of hodge-podge and scary...imho.

This is a lot of retail in a pretty short stretch - but I'm sure it will be welcomed by all the new (and existing) residents of the area. Oakleaf Plantation had sales or starts (I forget which) of 1,500 units in 2005 and there are many new homes planned in this area. Now hopefully the office and light industrial will really fire up and we can get a few thousand new decent paying jobs to the area too.

It's encouraging to start seeing some serious retail investment dollars in this area - I hope commercial and light-industrail dollars (read...jobs) will not be far behind.

[Urban_Legend]

^I didn't know Simon was FINALLY redoing the Orange Park Mall. Did you say that Dick's Sporting Goods was moving into the mall? whoa....

[Schade]

^I didn't know Simon was FINALLY redoing the Orange Park Mall. Did you say that Dick's Sporting Goods was moving into the mall? whoa....

Back on Nov 1, 2006 - Simon requested approval from the clay county planning board for about 170,000 sq feet including 47,500 sq ft for a Dick's Sporting Goods. Clay County planning - See Itme #6

The request required a zone change - and this was approved. Looks like Simon is seeing competition on the horizon and finally doing something to address the condition of this mall. I've never personally been inside the Orange Park mall - but have heard from others that it is a bit tired and lacking in decent shopping venues.

[jandar]

It's amazing what is truly happening here in such a short amount of time.

Im really liking that land use plan and its effects on retail so far.

Even though 3 of these new developments are within a mile of my house, Im actually a bit relieved to not have to go anywhere near Wells and Blanding soon enough.

[bjj1839]

Hi all. I'm a first time poster, but have been following news from the Argyle Forest Blvd / Chaffe Road areas since moving into Oakleaf Plantation in June of last year. For those who may not know yet, it appears the site work for the new Oakleaf Town Center has begun. The entire site has been cleared as of Friday, March 17th. It only took a week to knock everything down. The trees are still in large piles, but they'll probably have it totally cleared within the next few weeks. My family has been waiting anxiously for something to get going out here. We can't stand driving into blanding Blvd!

[zt456]

Hopefully Jacksonville can support all this retail, I wish they would create more residential units so these new centers would already have a fixed population of shoppers and wouldn't take as many shoppers away from other centers/malls.

[Urban_Legend]

Welcome to the site, bjj1839!

And thanks for the update on the Oakleaf area. I agree with you, if I lived there, I'd never venture out to Blanding Blvd unless I really had to. lol

[SierraHotelGIRL]

I was amazed how quickly they cleared the site for OLTC...was driving by a few days ago and it hadn't been touched (not a tree!)...and today...WOW...completely cleared. The new roads are going in at a fast past, too. They are going to need it with all this development...residential/retail. Now I wish the office/job sector would pick up. I make my living as a headhunter here and I have been waiting for the day Jax is on par with some of the other larger cities...it's coming, it's coming! I have been faithful all this time Right now I live off of Old Jennings...and when I moved here in late 1997...never thought I'd see the day that this little community would burst wide open with all this development. With everything slated to go in...now I see why Eagle Landing is getting away with home sales prices to 1mm. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out right in front of me over the next few months/years. Oakleaf/Brananfield looks like it will one day be the center of everything this side of the St. John's and the other areas (Orange Park and Blanding) will become the outlying areas...you know...once the outer beltway goes in. Speaking of which...I saw a teaser for First Coast News the other day (did not watch) that the decision on where the new bridge span is going in (somewhere between the Buckman and Shands) is coming...anyone hear anything as to the decision on this??? I cannot wait for the day Clay County is linked up to St. John's County and I-95 via the outer beltway system. TWO major job centers underway over there. We either need more jobs here or we need this link up...NOW. I'll post some pictures at a later date to show the progress of this development...it's all five minutes one way...and ten minutes the other way.

Thx to whoever posted that link to the "artistic renderings" of the OLTC. Looks great...let's see if it turns out that way! (I hope).

[SierraHotelGIRL]

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/otherci.../30/story5.html

SECOND grocery-anchored center set for Oakleaf - Oakleaf Plantation Parkway and Branan Field Road. Mentions another big-box retailer as well.

28.5 acres/$7.3 million

[simms3]

Sierra Gurl, you must be fascinated by this new bridge linking the counties cuz ya mention it soo much, is this a decision that will affect your life personally by travel/traffic? And do you think that the new bridge will open up an even bigger boom of jobs/population to the counties than they currently have? And btw welcome to da' community!

[SierraHotelGIRL]

Sierra Gurl, you must be fascinated by this new bridge linking the counties cuz ya mention it soo much, is this a decision that will affect your life personally by travel/traffic? And do you think that the new bridge will open up an even bigger boom of jobs/population to the counties than they currently have? And btw welcome to da' community!

Simms,

I am the owner of a major job placement firm. Let me first explain that I moved here from Columbia, Maryland, where I first got my start in this business in the MD-VA-DC areas. I married a career military man, and let's just say, that turned my professional life upside down. My husband; the Navy, is why I ended up in Jacksonville. Honestly, at first, I did not like it here. Mostly because it is so different from MD, some differences better than others. It took me awhile to establish myself here - both professionally and on a personal level. After a couple years in Jax, and the people here, it really grew on me. I have always believed that Jacksonville has been "on the verge" of a much greater potential then what it has been recognized for on a national level. As I stated previously, I live in Clay County, I live off Old Jennings Road (Branan Field Corridor). I did not want to be here, as I would have preferred to be on the Southside of Jax, but my husband insisted we live on this side of the Buckman, and where we chose to build a home was probably the best place at the time (that we could agree on!). In my business, I hear from people all the time, people on both sides of the fence (employee candidates and employers), that they want a better route between Clay and St. John's and I-95. Most of the people I deal with either live in Clay or St. John's...or close by...Southside. Clay and St. John's have the most undeveloped land that is both desirable and affordable (compared to other growing areas). St. John's particularly has a good strategy for employment growth with two major job centers underway (which will expand outward), and I think both counties have good long-term planning in place for residential growth. These are (and will continue to be) the two high-growth areas around here (along with the Southside area) in terms of either employment growth or residential growth or both. Linking the two together via a southerly connector will enable these two counties to support and feed off of each other's growth. That is why I think the bridge and outer beltway is essential. More major employers will either establish here or relocate here if they have access to as large of a workforce as possible. Right now that workforce is divided and spread out. I am still young, in my 30s, but I have witnessed well-managed growth before...in Columbia, MD. I lived there for several years and I was there during all the growth stages as it evolved into what it is today. Columbia is recognized as the first master-planned community in the country. Nothing like it existed before it. Jim Rouse, the developer behind it, and a lot of other recognizable places across the country, is credited with a lot of "firsts" in what he did in developing Columbia itself. So, having lived it, seen it, I know something about it. I feel certain that having that beltway/bridge in place is going to open up a completely new sector of growth...the kind of growth that will likely shape Jacksonville as a whole...and put it on the same level as some of the other larger metros around the country. I am betting my future on it...as are some of the big-name developers coming in here now...South Florida...Chicago...NY...etc. So...yes, I am passionate about it. Extremely so. I like being somewhere that is happening and evolving where I get to be a part of it, as opposed to somewhere that is simply "there".

[simms3]

Nice answer, and I see your point and the fact that large employers are currently shying away from Clay or St. Johns because if they locate in say Clay, their employees have to live in Clay or southern Duval, and same for St. Johns. Is the area around Old Jennings Road and Brannan "CURRENTLY" seeing a lot of growth and construction?

[SierraHotelGIRL]

Is the area around Old Jennings Road and Brannan "CURRENTLY" seeing a lot of growth and construction?

YES - let's just say it used be school buses that would constantly get in my way...now it's dump trucks hauling dirt from one place to another and flat beds with construction supplies. There's an ARMY of them! Any big patch of open acreage around here is either currently being developed, recently sold and about to be developed, or is for sale. Over in Fleming Island...there are currently several projects (condo, office, restaurants) going up all at the same time. Within a 1-mile radius...I count TEN sites just off the top of my head. I won't elaborate on the Jennings/Brananfield area just b/c that has already been well covered earlier in this thread. I really do intend to get out there and take some pictures and when I do I will share them. It will be a "fun project" for me to work on...tracking all this. Five years from now, if not sooner, it's going to look completely different around here. If I am to be honest, I would say I am excited about all of the growth, but I am a bit apprehensive, too!

[frag24]

bjj1839-

do you have any photos of those changes in OLP? what part, is it between phase I and phase II?

[bjj1839]

bjj1839-

do you have any photos of those changes in OLP? what part, is it between phase I and phase II?

No sorry, no pictures yet. The OLTC is across the street from Publix on Argyle Forest Blvd and Old Middlebug Road. It stretches West to almost Chaffee Road. Looks like whatever it is is going to be HUGE. I followed the links to the architectural developer's concept drawings, and they look great, but being in the Engineering field, I know that artistic rendereings are just that, and rarely are constructed in the manner they are presented. (Value Engineering we call it).

Anyone know what's going into the dust bowl across the street from OLTC? It's been cleared for about a year, with "coming soon shopping center" signs. On Saturday, the dust blowing out there was so bad, it literally looked like a sandstorm.

An update on the Super Walmart on Brannan Field and Blanding Blvd. We drove past there last week, it looks like the shell is almost complete. Lots of brick. Looks nice for such a large building. It doesn't look like the Home Depot has been started yet, but Kimco's website sows an updated tenant list.

Hope this helps!