First Baptist Church Jacksonville still awaits the $10 million in donations it needs to break ground, but it is taking a step toward a new satellite campus in Nocatee.
Judson Leverette, director of business administration for Downtown-based First Baptist, said leaders continue to work on architectural plans for First Baptist Church Nocatee.
Leverette said Nocatee was chosen for another campus because it is a growing community. The main campus remains Downtown.
“That’s where a lot of our young people are living right now and it makes it a whole lot easier for them to have a church in their community,” he said.
Leverette said some churchgoers don’t like to drive Downtown anymore. “They want something closer to home,” he said.
Nocatee is about 26 miles from Downtown, where First Baptist has its large main campus at 124 W. Ashley St.
Preliminary engineering plans are in city review for almost 22 acres of the Nocatee site, identified along Valley Ridge Road.
The site straddles the county line. The majority of the campus is in Duval County, with sports fields in St. Johns.
Plans show a church, playground and the sports fields. They also indicate a preschool day care. The proposed building footprint is 40,850 square feet, but that doesn’t include multiple stories.
Leverette said that was the extent of the plans for now. Connelly & Wicker Inc. is the civil engineer.
He declined to predict a start and completion date and said the project will be paid for by donations, not with debt.
First Baptist owns the land. In July 2013, it acquired almost 22 acres of Duval County property and 7.29 acres in St. Johns.
A Nocatee presence would accommodate the 500 members who now attend Sunday morning services at Ponte Vedra High School and others — existing and new.
First Baptist Church also has satellites in Ortega and at the University of North Florida, where a trailer is brought in for Sunday night worship.
He said membership exceeds 15,000 people.
City OKs $56M Amazon.com permit
With permit now in hand, The Conlan Co. can continue with vertical construction on the Amazon.com fulfillment center under development in AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center.
The city issued the permit Wednesday for the $56.5 million construction project at 13333 103rd St.
Site work was approved in October and has been underway for the 1 million-square-foot building.
PlainsCapital Bank of Dallas issued a $58.13 million construction loan Jan. 6 to Hillwood Development Co. LLC.
That was the same week Fort Worth-based Hillwood bought the 86-acre site from the city for $783,341.
The bank made the loan to 103 BLDG C LLC, which Hillwood created to develop the project. Hillwood is the master developer of AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. The city owns the former naval air station.
Seattle-based Amazon said Jan. 4 it would open the fulfillment center at Cecil Commerce Center to handle large consumer items, while an Amazon center under development in Northwest Jacksonville will deal with small consumer items.
The investment in both centers is projected to be $315 million and total employment will be 2,700, according to city legislation. Both are expected to open in the fall.
$50M Mayo destination building approved
As the area’s medical and health care industry continues its growth, the city issued a permit Tuesday for a $50 million shell building for Mayo Clinic.
The four-story, 152,000-square-foot structure will be the Destination Medical Building the clinic announced almost a year ago for its Southside campus at 4500 San Pablo Road.
The Robins & Morton Group of Orlando is the contractor.
Mayo Clinic announced March 29 it would invest $100 million in construction projects at its Jacksonville campus, including the four-story medical building with the potential for 11 more floors.
In that announcement, it said the building will provide integrated services needed for complex cancer care, as well as neurologic and neurosurgical care.
Mayo Clinic said it will add about 40 physicians and scientists and 250 allied health employees to support the medical building and a new positron emission tomography (PET) radiochemistry facility.
The health care organization said then it has 5,351 employees in Jacksonville and contributes more than $1.6 billion to the Florida economy.
A spokesman said Wednesday the timeline for completion is summer 2018.
Mayo said the building will include two floors devoted to hematology and oncology care; a chemotherapy area; a floor for neurology and neurosurgery; patient care enhancements; and education enhancements.
That space more than doubles the size of the Hematology and Oncology Department, with a 50 percent increase in staff.
The new building also doubles the space for the neurology and neurosurgical departments and supports hiring 12 neurologists and neurosurgeons, Mayo said.
A news release said more than 126,000 patients are expected to visit the first year it opens.
Earth Fare OK’d for Mandarin South
Jacksonville’s second Earth Fare grocery store should soon start building-out at the Mandarin South Shopping Center.
The first Earth Fare opened in August 2014 at Kernan and Atlantic boulevards.
The Mandarin store, at 11700 San Jose Blvd., will be almost 27,700 square feet. Build-out is $2.06 million, according to the building permit issued Tuesday.
Benning Construction Co. is the contractor.
Earth Fare, founded 42 years ago, is based in Asheville, N.C.
It focuses on natural and organic foods.
Belfort at Canopy Park sells for $26.5M
Colliers International Jacksonville announced the 192-unit Canopy at Belfort Park apartment community was sold Wednesday for $26.5 million, or $138,020 per unit.
Canopy at Belfort Park Apartments LLC sold the complex to TC Belfort Park LLC. It is 93 percent occupied.
The apartments, on 11.5 acres at 7750 Belfort Parkway, were developed in 2013. The complex comprises eight three-story residential buildings, clubhouse, pool and other amenities.
Director Bradley Coe, Managing Director Douglas Blair and Associate Director Morgan Williams of Multifamily Investment Services at Colliers International Jacksonville brokered the transaction.
Mesa Capital Partners of Atlanta is the seller. State corporate records show the buyer is associated with Republic Holdings Corp. of Greenwich, Conn.
In a news release, Coe described the buyer as a private investment group in the mid-Atlantic that targeted a core income-producing Class A multifamily property that would provide a consistent annual yield on the investment.
Food notes
• The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops shop is being built-out at The Hexagon at San Marco Train Station at 1434 Hendricks Ave. The $61,000 project will convert 1,150 square feet for the venture.
• Taco Bell will build at Town Center Promenade. The restaurant with a drive-thru will go up at a cost of almost $810,000 at 4466 Town Center Parkway.
• Chipotle in Regency at 9395 Atlantic Blvd. is a step closer to construction. Engineering and landscape plans were filed for the 2,271-square-foot restaurant that will be built where the former Pier 1 Imports store will be demolished.
• Aldi, with three Northeast Florida grocery stores open and at least two more planned in Duval County, intends to remodel more than 1,300 of its U.S. stores by 2020, costing an estimated $1.6 billion.
The upgraded stores will provide a more modern design and focus on fresh items, including produce, dairy and bakery sections.
Aldi, based in Germany, also plans to open 650 stores across the U.S., expecting to operate almost 2,000 locations by the end of 2018.
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