Because of—or perhaps in spite of—popular demand, this year, Jacksonville Homebuyer is once again presenting its real-estate-related “Best of” compilation.
Our editors, with tongue only slightly in cheek, have chosen winners in such diverse categories as “Best New Zip Code,” “Best Place to Live for Shopaholics” and “Best Place to be Single on the Southside.”
In making our selections, we relied on our own knowledge of the market and consulted with numerous industry insiders, who agreed to share their off-the-record—and off-the-cuff—opinions.
Like all such compilations, this one is unscientific and highly subjective—but hopefully fun to read.
Certainly, not everyone will agree with our picks. Still, if you’re considering a move to the area and are shopping for a new home, you’ll at the very least find this special feature to be an interesting starting point and perhaps an impetus to find out more.
-Penelope Geismar, Publisher
Best New Golf Course Community If you’re looking for a gated, resort-style community offering a variety of amenities—golf, tennis, swimming, basketball, a fitness center and a playground—it’s hard to surpass Nassau County’s Amelia National Golf & Country Club which will ultimately encompass 749 homes surrounding a Tom Fazio signature golf course. The private golf country club will offer around 430 memberships to Amelia National property owners. A community highlight is the exquisite 17,000-square-foot French provincial clubhouse, with sparkling fountains and lush landscaping enhancing its Old World beauty.
Best New Zip Code
The Town of Nocatee, which straddles the Duval and St. Johns county lines. is a huge mixed-use development that will feature a town center, parks, schools and churches. Upon completion, Nocatee will encompass about 14,000 homes in a variety of styles and price ranges, 4.2 million square feet of office space and one million square feet of retail and commercial space. That will make it the largest project of its kind in Northeast Florida. Still, developers are carefully preserving much of the site’s natural splendor. More than 9,000 of the community’s 15,000 acres will be nature preserves. Three-and-a-half miles of land along the Intracoastal Waterway has already been donated to St. Johns County while a 5,000-acre greenway system will provide a wildlife habitat as well as an extensive system of nature, walking and biking trails. In short, this is development done right.
Best ArchitecturalTheming
Building on its success at Villini at Glen Kernan, The Pineapple Corporation has unveiled Palermo, a Tuscan-style gated community on Hodges Boulevard in Jacksonville. The 133-homesite community offers two product lines: The Primo series, which features six plans ranging in size from 3,120 to 4,586 square feet, and The Magnifico series, which features eight plans ranging in size from 2,489 to 3,245 square feet. Typical of Pineapple’s perfectionism, the semi-custom homes and the common areas will be meticulously designed to enhance the European ambiance. In fact, few companies are more exacting when it comes to architectural authenticity, proving that it pays to sweat the small stuff. Villini at Glen Kernan’s community amenities will include a recreational facility, a fitness center, a swimming pool and a covered pavilion grilling area, and prices ranging from the $500s.
Best River View
Combining an eye-popping view with the ultimate in luxury appointments, The St. John is a 51-story, all-glass condominium tower planned near Baptist Hospital on the Southbank. The signature building is being developed by Hines, an international real estate firm and developer of Palencia in St. Johns County. Designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, The St. John will boast such cutting-edge architectural details as clear glass balcony railings and floor-to-ceiling, tinted glass exterior walls. All the better to take in the spectacular vistas of bustling downtown Jacksonville and the mighty St. Johns River. Amenities will include a riverfront fitness center, a business center, a club room, a swimming pool, hot tubs and cabanas. Walkers will be able to stroll along the Riverwalk via the building’s direct access, saunter down the street for dining and shopping in San Marco or hoof it to work in one of several nearby office towers. Prices range from the $300s to more than $2 million for a penthouse. Construction is slated to be completed in 2009.
Best Place for Shopaholics
Located close to the University of North Florida and next door to St. Johns Town Center, the Georgetown townhomes by SEDA Construction Company feature luxurious living in the heart of the region’s busiest shopping and entertainment district. The 2,100-square-foot, three-story townhomes offer upscale interior fixtures and finishes and luxurious amenities such as an electronic entrance gate, a clubhouse, a fitness center and a swimming pool. The open floorplans at Georgetown are reminiscent of those found in row houses in the posh Washington, D.C., suburb for which the community was named. Prices for the townhomes, which offer two- or three-bedroom plans, start in the upper $200s. That means you’ll have plenty of money left over for the countless restaurants and retailers located within minutes of your front door.
Best Redevelopment
During World War II, battleships were being refurbished along this stretch of Northbank real estate. Then, despite its prime riverfront location, for decades the property sat vacant. After some fits and starts, that’s all changing. Today, one of Jacksonville’s most ambitious and eagerly awaited developments is The Shipyards by the LandMar Group LLC. The project is slated to include a 38-story, 331-unit residential tower with one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums with six levels of resort-style amenities, including: a restaurant and bar, two swimming pools, a fitness center, a spa facility, a private movie theater screening room, a putting green, an activity lawn with an amphitheater, several tennis courts, a 240-slip marina with two floating private parks and Shipyards Pier Park, a public extension of the Jacksonville Riverwalk stretching nearly 700 feet into the St. Johns River. Designed by the Miami architectural firm Arquitectonica, construction of the first tower at The Shipyards will take approximately 30 to 36 months to complete. Homes will range in price from the low $300s to more than $1 million. Phase II of the project will focus on a 20-acre parcel extending east of Hogan’s Creek and is planned to include retail, hotel, residential and commercial space.
Best Family Amenity Center
Mom, I’m bored! Well, you’re not likely to hear that complaint if you live at Bartram Springs, a master-planned community located between U.S.-1 and I-95 off Race Track Road in St. Johns County. It offers theme-park-style amenities including three community swimming pools and a water park, a playground, a fitness center and tennis courts. Bartram Springs also offers easy access to shopping and excellent public schools.
Best Communityto Live and Work
Developed by Hines, Palencia in St. Johns County is a prime example of New Urbanism at its best, with a combination of homes and businesses and a decidedly small-town feel. Amenities include a world-class golf course while pocket parks take the place of paved cul de sacs. One neighborhood even boasts treehouses for children. There’s also an extensive network of interconnected trails and a boardwalk underway that takes walkers, joggers and bikers through the marsh to the Intracoastal Waterway. But this category is called “Best Community to Live and Work.” So what about the working part? Well, developers are just completing innovative live/work units where entrepreneurs can reside above their businesses.
Most Extravagant Center for Amenities
At Eagle Landing in Clay County’s OakLeaf Plantation, you’ll find a swim park with a water playground, a wading pool for tots and a freestanding slide tower. But that’s only the beginning. There’s also a competition pool, a separate adult lap pool with a cabana bar, twelve Har-Tru clay tennis courts and a pro shop, a 3,000-square-foot gymnasium with an indoor track and an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Clyde Johnston. Oh, and let’s not forget the lakeside Village Green, reminiscent of a quaint small town, where you enjoy a leisurely stroll or rent canoes, kayaks, fishing rods and other sports and recreation equipment. Then there’s the Kid’s Club, which features a treehouse and a 12-hole miniature golf course. Full-time recreation staffers host year-round programs, clinics and camps. Whew!
Best Community for Parrotheads
Paradise Key by BESTCON is taking shape on the last 22 undeveloped acres in Jacksonville Beach. But it looks a lot more like a community you’d find in Key West. The tres chic architectural style is neo-traditional, with homes sporting cupolas, widow’s walks and weather vanes. Xeriscaping means much of the natural vegetation has been retained while a series of parks are connected by bike and walking trails. A creek also meanders through the property. And the best feature yet—the ocean is within easy walking distance via a system of trails. Paradise Key will encompass 62 homes priced from the $800s.You almost expect to encounter a herd of Hemingway’s cats or Jimmy Buffet sipping a margarita.
Best Place to MEET a Manatee
You can get up close and personal with these gentle, lumbering creatures at Villas Continental & Yacht Club, a luxury condominium community nestled along the St. Johns River in Orange Park. Villas Continental & Yacht Club, developed by Cove Properties of the Southeast, also features an 80-slip marina and is just minutes away from downtown Jacksonville’s vibrant restaurants, shopping and nightlife.
Best Equestrian Center
Whitelock Farms, located in St. Johns County on C.R. 210, features 125 large, wooded homesites ranging in size from 2.5 to 40 acres. The community’s trails and common areas for riding and training are among the area’s best. Whitelock’s residents also include hunter-jumpers and dressage riders. So the community equestrian center has facilities specifically tailored for those types of riding.
Best Tennis Facilities
Tennis fans from around the globe flock to Amelia Island in Nassau County each April to watch the sport’s best women players compete in the Bausch & Lomb Championships. So where else could our best tennis facilities be but Amelia Island Plantation. Tennis programs for regular folks also take place on the community’s 23 oak-shaded Har-Tru clay courts. Facilities cater to all levels of play and all ages. Amelia’s Gunterman Tennis School was chosen by Tennis Magazine as one of its Top 25 for instructional facilities for adults. Clinics for adult and junior players are also available.
Most Upscale Street
A drive down Ponte Vedra Boulevard takes you past some of the area’s most opulent homes. Long the address of choice among the area’s elite, a roster of residents reads like a who’s who of business leaders and sports stars. In addition to striking marshside and oceanfront residences, Ponte Vedra Boulevard is home to the prestigious Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. If you visit, however, make certain that your drive is a leisurely one. The ultra-low speed limit is strictly enforced.
Best Boutique Community
Ponte Vedra is more than just magnificent oceanfront mansions. Arthur Rutenberg Homes’ Montura is a private, gated neighborhood in the heart of the community some still call Palm Valley. Montura includes only 20 homes, with prices ranging from the low $800s to more than $1 million. On the property you’ll find abundant trees, a quiet park and a shaded, intimate setting.
Best Old Florida-Style Community
Brylen Homes is developing Istoria on the Tolomato River in St. Augustine to blend harmoniously with its wetland setting. Istoria, which stems from the Latin word meaning “history,” eschews traditional lawns to preserve native trees and plants around homes built in either the British West Indies or Florida/Coastal Vernacular styles. Prices range from the high $500s to low $600s.
Best Summer VacationAll Year Long
One of the newest World Golf Village neighborhoods, Heritage Landing boasts amenities that will remind you of summer camp as a child. Although real-life summer camps were never this nice. “Camp Heritage” includes Camp Central, the community’s rustic, tin-roofed clubhouse. But don’t let the Cracker cabin ambiance fool you—inside is a state-of-the-art fitness facility, men’s and women’s bath-houses, a catering kitchen, a bar and a viewing terrace. The surrounding forests encompass a picnic area with a pavilion, a Junior Olympic swimming pool and a camp activity area featuring horseshoes, volleyball, shuffleboard and other old-fashioned outdoor activities. There’s even an outdoor movie screen. Kids will love the waterpark slide, which was built to resemble a Forest Service lookout tower, while parents will get a workout on the Har-Tru tennis courts. Homes at Heritage Landing start in the family-friendly $200s.
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