Hello All! Dave Taylor here, checking in with you today about the construction boom that’s been happening in the Duvall County, Florida’s Jacksonville Beach. Building trades professionals seeking residential construction job leads would do very well to check out our building activity reports for Duval County. The luxury housing market in Jacksonville Beach has increased, along with the demand for ocean-front and ocean-view homes, and a drop in available lots for building.
While the economy in Jacksonville Beach isn’t quite as strong as the surrounding area, Jacksonville.com’s Teresa Stepzinsky writes that the area is very desirable for upmarket buyers. In 2008, only 12 permits totaling a mere $3.5 million were issued, with the lag continuing into the next decade. But in 2014, 110 permits for single-family housing were issued for over $48.8 million.
Carol Zingone, a broker-associate at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida, notes that “There’s not a lot of oceanfront property.” Yet, the market is really heating up. The Beaches area of Jacksonville Beach is desirable because it has greater access to activities, public beachfront, restaurants and night life than neighboring Neptune Beach and Atlantic beach. Zigone reports that the median price for a 3-bedroom/one-bath, pre-existing, 925-square-foot bungalow is $118,000, but that the low-end properties are dwarfed in size, price, and number by pricier luxury properties.
Many of these luxury properties are density developments that are currently under development. The biggest developments underway in Jacksonville Beach are Ocean Terrace, BluWater Apartments, and The Cottages at Jax Beach.
The Cottages at Jax Beach is an infill/pocket development seven-home development under construction from Ninth Avenue and first Street, running all the way to the oceanfront. These 3-level single-family and duplex-homes of The Cottages at Jax Beach are between 2,800 and 3,300 square feet of living space, and include an over-sized 1- or 2- car garage. Prices range from $595,000 to $749,500 with yards that are big enough for swimming pools and stunning ocean views.
BluWater Apartments, a 170-unit luxury apartment complex on the redeveloped site of the former George Moore Chevrolet, is seven blocks from the ocean. One-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging from 620 square feet to 1,373 square feet will rent from $1,095 to $2,500 per month. Many units have already been leased.
Ocean Terrace is an exclusive 59-site development located between Sanctuary parkway and South Beach parkway that is a mere five blocks from the ocean. Floorplans range from 2,250 square-foot, three-bedrooms to 3,100 square feet, six-bedrooms, with prices starting in the low $400k’s.
The New Jersey-based KABR Group purchased a one-block oceanfront tract that allows for construction greater than the 35-foot height limit found in place for the rest of the beachfront. It has been speculated that luxury high-rise condos will be developed for the lot during 2015, but KABR has yet to formally announce any of their plans for the area.
Our Subscribers know that HBW’s Building Permit Activity reports are a solid source of residential construction job leads. But they may not realize that HBW offers unparalleled market analytics and construction activity trend reports on a county-by-county basis so construction trades professionals can fine-tune their marketing and promotion efforts.