The 400-unit Ciel Apartments are winding through approvals for development near Florida Blue in Southside.
The city is reviewing a site plan and the St. Johns River Water Management District gave notice it will grant a permit for the project, designed on 16.6 acres at northeast Butler and Southside boulevards.
Plans show six buildings, a clubhouse and pool, two garages, electric car-charging station, playground, dog park, maintenance building and more.
Units comprise 232 one-bedroom, 144 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom units.
The vacant land in Deerwood Park North is owned by GuideWell Group Inc. GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp. is the parent company of Florida Blue. The site is west of the Florida Blue Deerwood Campus.
WRH Deerwood LLC, part of WRH Properties Inc. in St. Petersburg, is the developer.
Ciel Apartments will comprise six apartment buildings on almost 16.6 acres along Deer Lake Drive East and provide 779 parking spaces, plans show. Access to the complex would be from Deer Lake Drive.
Florida Blue spokeswoman Toni Woods said previously that GuideWell does not plan to use the property and it appeared to be a good opportunity to dispose of assets.
She said the sale has not closed yet.
In a bid process, Guidewell chose WRH because it was the best partner in meeting GuideWell’s needs as its neighbor and it had concrete plans, she said.
Woods said Guidewell provided input into the design and aesthetics of the project. WRH builds, manages and maintains multifamily properties, another plus.
City Council enacted ordinance 2016-724 in January to rezone the land from one Planned Unit Development to another to permit multifamily use.
GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp. is based at 4800 Deerwood Campus Parkway.
WRH Realty Services Inc. has an office in Jacksonville.
It is a full-service real estate investment, property management, construction and consulting firm.
Jacksonville-based Vestcor Inc. is one of its clients and WRH manages many of its area properties.
BMW center expected to open late next year
BMW of North America LLC spokesman Kenn Sparks said Wednesday that the company plans to complete construction in late 2018 on its regional distribution center in West Jacksonville.
Sparks said a year ago the automaker expected to occupy the site by now.
“As for the timing, ours is a dynamic business and we frequently adjust schedules to better suit our needs,” he said, declining more details pending a news release.
The city approved site clearing in September and is reviewing a building permit application for the estimated $30 million project.
The 445,000-square-foot warehouse is under development on 28 acres at 5560 Imeson Road next to Westside Industrial Park, where BMW runs its smaller parts center.
Gate store demolition
Gate Petroleum Co. is ready to tear down its store at 9540 San Jose Blvd. and build a new one.
The city is reviewing the application to demolish the 5,052-square-foot store in front of Gate’s headquarters. Realco Recycling Co. Inc. is the contractor.
The existing store, built in 2000, is about 5,400 square feet. The new one will be 6,400 square feet and will have more gas pumps.
It will be the model used for the new Gate stores in development in Nocatee and elsewhere, featuring the Gate Fresh Kitchen, frozen yogurt and an outside dining area.
Spokewoman Misty Skipper said previously it should be completed by year-end.
Food notes
• Wendy’s is preparing to re-build its Five Points restaurant. A permit application shows the fast-food chain will develop a 2,433-square-foot store at 2006 Park St., where it will demolish the existing building.
The 2,114-square-foot structure was built in 1974. Owners of the property rezoned the site, at Park and Margaret streets. City Council enacted Ordinance 2016-674, with conditions after neighborhood input, on March 28.
• Graffiti Junktion won approval for interior demolition at 9703 San Jose Blvd. PPD Construction Services is the contractor for the $123,987 project for 2,507 square feet.
Greg Peters, president of Orlando-based Graffiti Junktion, expects to open there about June 1 and is investing about $285,000 in renovations. It formerly was Steamin’ Jax.
Retail notes
• Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs will open in St. Johns Town Center. A pending permit shows a $58,680 build-out of 1,200 square feet at 4668 Town Crossing Drive. It also has a presence at The Avenues mall. The space formerly was the Olive Oil Store, which is relocating to Jacksonville Beach. The lease was up at the Town Center.
• Samuels Jewelers, which opened in a temporary location at The Avenues mall at the end of November, will be moving into its permanent space after renovations are completed. It will move to the former Underwood Jewelers space. Jacksonville-based Underwood Jewelers closed there in September.
No contractor is listed for tenant build-out of 1,336 square feet of space for Samuels Jewelers in the Southside mall at 10300 Southside Blvd. Samuels Jewelers Inc. is a division of Gitanjali which is a part of the DeBeers site holder company. It operates 108 jewelry stores in 22 states.
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