Hines Jacksonville Managing Director Lane Gardner told Southside residents Monday afternoon the international developer wanted to create “a market-defining community” at vacant land under contract along Gate Parkway at southwest Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295.
The project, referred to as Mill Dam Branch but slated for a branding process, could comprise a mix of residences, stores, restaurants, services, a hotel, offices and parks and green space.
A main element throughout, Gardner said, was walkability so residents, employees and visitors could make their way through the community without having to drive.
Gardner emphasized Hines was taking its ideas to the neighbors before submitting plans to the city for the 105-acre property, which stretches from the FBI Building to the Shoppes at Village Walk.
“We’re very, very early in the process,” Gardner said at a community preview at the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors offices called by District 11 City Council member Danny Becton.
It would be completed in phases over six to eight years. About 75 acres of the site can be developed. The remainder comprises stormwater ponds, wetlands and other property that cannot be developed.
The property is zoned commercial office and would need to be rezoned as a Planned Unit Development, said land-use lawyer T.R. Hainline with the Rogers Towers law firm.
Gardner said if the City Council zoning process proceeds on pace, Hines could buy the property by late summer and start work on the project by the end of the year.
Gardner and Hainline both said there was no specific timeline because Hines, as master developer, wanted to meet with neighbors and city staff before it submitted the rezoning application.
Hainline said the project would undergo council review and also would be taken to area community groups, home owners’ associations and the Citizens Planning Advisory Committee.
“We are very thorough in our planning process,” Gardner said.
Gardner said Hines first studied the market area, including its architecture, scale and constraints. It then moved to the current phase, development of the master plan.
Becton said he wants to hold a community workshop about the proposal like he did for the IKEA store planned not far from the Hines site.
Gardner said Hines knew nothing about the IKEA proposal when it first became interested in the Gate Parkway property. However, the IKEA community concerns about traffic were made clear.
Traffic considerations would be part of the Hines zoning process, Hainline said.
Hines and IKEA both are buying their sites from the Charles Brightman Skinner Jr. Trust and He Otter LLC, another Skinner family property owner.
While Gardner said there were no decisions, residents asked for an outline of the project.
Gardner emphasized that that it was too early to estimate numbers, but said that a project like the Gate Parkway property could comprise a mix per phase of 50-150 single family homes, 250-300 multifamily units and 30-75 townhomes, along with an undetermined number of assisted- and independent-living units.
He said the number of phases and the mix for each has not been determined.
He called the project “multigenerational,” assuring a questioning resident there would be covenants and restrictions regarding her concerns about noise.
One resident asked about the mix of owner-occupied and rental residences. Gardner said that also would be determined.
Gardner said the largest office space could be up to 100,000 or 150,000 square feet, although space in the 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot range is what Hines understands is wanted.
He said the retail space will be geared toward restaurants, stores and services needed by residents.
Becton said one goal is “getting people to live where they work,” referring to walkability.
Gardner also said there would be green space, walking trails and community access to the lakefront. “We intend to open that up and let everyone use it,” he said.
A greenway would be developed around the lake as a community amenity, he said.
The property would be developed in three sections, starting with retail, office and residential space, followed by two more sections, each possible with residential and office space.
Hines is known locally as the developer of Palencia, a 2,200-acre master-planned community north of St. Augustine, as well as the owner of The Markets at Town Center at St. Johns Town Center.
It is a privately owned Houston-based real estate firm with a presence in 199 cities around the globe, $87 billion in assets under management and is one of the world’s largest real estate organizations.
During pre-development, Hines will work with the city of Jacksonville, Dallas-based planning and design firm CallisonRTKL, Jacksonville civil and traffic engineering firm England, Thims & Miller, geotechnical engineer Ellis & Associates and the Environmental Services Inc. consulting firm.
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