While there are billions in projects in the pipeline for Downtown Jacksonville, including the Stadium of the Future, even more are in the pipeline elsewhere in Duval County and around the region: Here’s a look at some of the development taking shape or recently completed around Northeast Florida, starting with Duval and Nassau Counties.
DUVAL COUNTY
Atlanta-based Hermeus Corp. broke ground Sept. 9 on its hypersonic engine test facility in West Jacksonville.
The High Enthalpy Air-Breathing Test Facility (HEAT) at Cecil Airport will be Hermeus’ largest and most advanced test site.
Hermeus plans to use its Quarterhorse high-speed flight test prototype to research future hypersonic aircraft. The site also will serve as the initial base for high-Mach flight test capabilities beginning in 2026.
The facility will be built in phases, with initial sea-level static engine tests scheduled by late 2024. Future phases will simulate flight-like high-Mach testing conditions on the ground.
Cosentino Group continues to take steps toward its $370 million manufacturing plant at the Cecil Commerce Center megasite.
On Dec. 10, the Jacksonville City Council approved an amendment to allow the city and JEA to jointly bid on a road and utility project for the Spanish company’s facility. It also extended Cosentino’s closing date by 60 days to Dec. 31, 2024.
The original agreement, approved by the City Council in 2023, included a land sale and incentives package with a $20.5 million sale price for 330 acres, a $12 million property tax incentive, and $5.5 million in debt spending for a $3 million Logistics Land Road extension at Cecil and $2.5 million for JEA sewer and water improvements.
Cosentino is an international company that makes countertops, flooring, facade materials and other surfaces for architecture and building design. The Cecil site is the company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility.
Dutch Bros Coffee brews up first Jacksonville location
Dutch Bros Coffee opened its first Jacksonville shop Nov. 22.
The drive-thru is at 5733 Roosevelt Blvd. near Winn-Dixie. The site had been a Larry’s Giant Subs, which was demolished.
Besides specialty coffee, the coffee shop sells its Dutch Bros Rebel energy drink and Nitro Cold Brew coffee. The menu includes smoothies, freezes, nitrogen-infused cold brews, teas, lemonades and soft drinks. It serves a limited number of pastries. There is no on-site cooking.
The shop is open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The first Dutch Bros in Northeast Florida opened in August in St. Johns County. It is at 50 McCoy Way in St. Augustine in the Palencia community.
The company, headquartered in Oregon, is developing at least eight locations in the region.
A project years in review is back in play in North Jacksonville.
City utility JEA is looking at the service availability for the project comprising 1.539 million square feet of industrial space, 67,725 square feet of retail space and a 53,402-square-foot grocery store.
The four real estate properties comprise 1,012.07 acres between Interstate 95 and North Main Street north of Pecan Park Road.
Benderson Development Co. LLC of University Park, near Sarasota, owns the timberland property.
The project, Bacardi Mixed-Use PUD, comprises 1,004 acres.
As of June 2019, Benderson Development Co. LLC continued to submit construction plans with the city for a proposed almost 2.04 million square feet of warehouse space at the site.
Benderson previously applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District in April 2019 for an environmental resource permit. WRA Engineering of Tampa was the environmental consultant.
City agencies have been reviewing plans that show more than 2 million square feet of warehouse space.
UF Health Jacksonville broke ground Nov. 21 on the $90 million Dr. Leon L. Haley, Jr., MD, Emergency and Trauma Center.
The facility will be constructed at the UF Health Jacksonville campus at 655 W. Eighth St.
It is named after the former CEO and dean of the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville. He pushed to expand the region’s only Level One facility.
“The University of Florida and UF Health want you to know that we have audacious ambitions when it comes to delivering high-quality, leading-edge care to the people in our communities. Only the very best care is good enough,” said Mori Hosseini, chair of the UF Board of Trustees, in a news release.
The facility is being built with $80 million from the state and $10 million from the city.
NASSAU COUNTY
Wawa pumped up its first Nassau County location July 11 at 50 Daydream Ave. off Florida 200, across from the Crossings at Wildlight.
The Pennsylvania-based gas station and convenience store chain estimated 200 people were waiting in line when its doors opened July 11.
Wawa General Manager Michael Carragher said the Wildlight location was selected after its real estate team researched the area and met with community leaders.
“I absolutely see more stores in Nassau County. Our real estate team is working vigorously every day,” Carragher said.
The store features made-to-order food, coffee drinks, retail items, 16 fueling stations, 32 gas pumps, and six electric vehicle charging points.
Academy Sports + Outdoors opened Nov. 3 at 463937 E. Florida 200, Suite 300, in Yulee, according to an associate. It is east of the Publix in the Villages of Amelia and west of Huddle House, Chick-fil-A and Davis Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.
It is the company’s 19th Florida location, with two stores in Jacksonville and one in Orange Park.
Baptist Health opened its $38 million, 23,879-square-foot Baptist Emergency and Imaging Center at Nassau Crossing in Yulee on Nov. 7.
The facility is east of Interstate 95, near Wildlight, at 462600 Florida 200, about 13 miles west of Baptist Medical Center Nassau.
The center is part of Baptist Health’s network, including the Wolfson Children’s emergency network, the only full-service children’s hospital and state-designated Level I pediatric trauma center in the region.
A second 27,709-square-foot building on the campus is set to open by year’s end, offering primary care, behavioral health services, advanced colonoscopies and upper endoscopies.
Plans are advancing for the Westerly Park residential community in Yulee. The Nassau County Development Review Committee approved homebuilder Pulte Homes’ civil engineering plans Oct. 29.
The neighborhood, near Wildlight Elementary School and the YMCA at Wildlight, will include 402 homes on 50- to 60-foot lots. The development is expected to add more than 1,000 residents to the area.
Construction of a neighborhood amenity center is scheduled to begin in 2025 and open in spring 2026.
The center will feature a pavilion overlooking a family pool, a six-lane lap pool, a playground and a picnic area.