Developer WRH Properties Inc. anticipates groundbreaking within 30 days for the more than $65 million Ciel apartments in Southside.
WRH Properties President Mark Rutledge said the 400-unit luxury apartment project should be completed in 20 months, indicating a spring 2019 opening.
Site clearing for the 16.6-acre site was approved June 23.
WRH Deerwood LLC bought the property in Deerwood Park next to the Florida Blue campus on Friday for $9.2 million. State Farm Life Insurance Co. of Bloomington, Illinois, issued a $39.2 million mortgage to WRH Deerwood.
WRH Deerwood bought the land from Guidewell Group Inc. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc.
Rutledge is president of WRH Properties, WRH Deerwood and WRH Realty Services Inc., all based in St. Petersburg and in Jacksonville.
The city is reviewing permit applications for the $38 million construction project at 4929 Skyway Drive, at northeast Butler and Southside boulevards.
Summit Contracting Group is the contractor. Humphreys & Partners Architects of Maitland is the architect.
Ciel is pronounced “see-al” and means blue, sky and heaven. It plays off of the location next to Florida Blue.
“This is designed to be best-in-class,” Rutledge said.
Ciel will comprise six four-story apartment buildings, a two-story clubhouse, a single-level leasing center, a single-story maintenance building and two single-story parking garages.
Rutledge said there would be a clubhouse of 8,500 square feet with a resort pool, spa, fitness center, business center, pet spa, dog park, electric car-charging stations, bike shop for storage and repair, and the free-standing leasing center.
“It should be really nice,” Rutledge said.
Units comprise 232 one-bedroom, 144 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom units.
Rutledge said monthly rents will start at $1,150 for one-bedroom units, $1,500 for two-bedroom units and $1,900 for three-bedrooms.
Rutledge said rates can be higher based on amenities, such as lake views.
The sizes start at 654 square feet for one-bedroom and 1,054 square feet for two-bedroom units. Three-bedroom apartments will be 1,435 square feet
In addition to being next to Florida Blue, Rutledge said the site is across the street from the Merrill Lynch campus, is highly visible from Butler Boulevard and can provide easy access to St. Johns Town Center.
“It’s really one of the best sites in Jacksonville,” he said.
WRH Realty Services has an office in Jacksonville and manages 19 properties in the area.
This will be the third property owned by the company.
The vacant land in Deerwood Park North was owned by GuideWell Group Inc. GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp. is the parent company of Florida Blue.
Florida Blue said previously it didn’t plan to use the property, so it considered the sale a good opportunity.
City Council enacted ordinance 2016-724 in January to rezone the land from one Planned Unit Development to another to permit multifamily use.