Landowner Brightman Skinner is negotiating to sell 110 acres along Gate Parkway to a developer for a mixed-use project referred to as Mill Dam Branch.
“It’s a mixed-use that is strong to the residential side,” Skinner said Tuesday. The project also could include retail and other uses.
The property is between Gate Parkway and Interstate 295, and between the FBI building and the Shoppes at Village Walk.
Skinner said about 75 acres can be developed. The remaining property comprises lakes and other undevelopable land.
He declined to identify the developer, who is expected to attend a presentation Monday afternoon hosted by District 11 City Council member Danny Becton.
Becton sent a notice inviting area residents to attend the “Exclusive Preview Event” to hear from what he described as an international developer with a local footprint. Becton declined to identify the developer, pending the Monday preview.
That event is scheduled 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors building at 7801 Deercreek Club Road. The notice said representatives from the developer and the city would attend.
Becton wrote the event is an opportunity to start a conversation to provide community input for the mixed-use development.
Skinner confirmed Becton’s description of the pending purchaser as an international developer with a local footprint. He said he had worked with several prospective developers before selecting one. He said their consultants were working out details.
“We have a deal contingent on approval of both sides,” he said.
Skinner estimates the deal could close in August. The land would need to be approved by the city as a Planned Unit Development, he said.
“If we can decide on something in 30 days, it would start its process of going through the system,” he said.
He said the property is owned by the Charles Brightman Skinner Jr. Trust and HE Otter LLC, another Skinner family owner.
It’s not their only area property in play.
They also are expected to close a deal soon to sell property near St. Johns Town Center for development of the Town Center Exchange mixed-use project. They also are selling property to IKEA for a store along Gate Parkway at I-295. He expects that sale could close in May.
“There are a lot of good things that are very positive in that area,” Skinner said.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466