The Skinner family is preparing to launch work on its 1,066-acre property at southeast Butler Boulevard and Interstate 295 in South Jacksonville.
A 920-page application and submittals to the St. Johns River Water Management District says the property, owned by Sawmill Timber LLC, will be developed in seven phases that will be built over the next 20 years. The family expects full build-out could take about 36 years.
“We continue to pursue permits for the property. As of today, we have no contracts with any buyers,” said family representative A.C. “Chip” Skinner on Tuesday.
The application seeks to fill wetland areas, build two roadways with wetland crossings, 22 stormwater management facilities and clearing and mass grading of the remaining upland area.
The property has been owned by the Skinners since the late 1880s for agricultural uses such as silviculture, cattle grazing and hunting, the application says.
About two-thirds of the property is surrounded by existing development, “making the site a logical candidate for in-fill commercial and residential development,” it says.
The application seeks permitting for site construction of roads, stormwater management facilities and the mass grading of upland areas.
“The current owners intend to master plan the future development of the property to ensure the proper design of interior roadways, drainage and utilities, and various complimentary land uses,” it says.
The family will obtain permits from the district and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the conceptual site plan.
Property use is envisioned as:
• The Town Center planning area. This first phase will encompass about 245 acres south of Butler and Kernan boulevards. It will comprise mixed-use development including professional offices, retail, multifamily housing, single-family housing, local government and compatible uses.
• The North and South Merchant planning area. The area will be next to I-295 along a main arterial road. More intensive commercial uses are anticipated, including retail stores. It will be sub-phased into the South Merchant planning area of 102 acres and the North Merchant planning area of 128 acres.
• Roads. A four-lane divided road will be built through the merchant planning area starting at the eastern end of Gate Parkway and ending at an interior roundabout in the Town Center planning area. The arterial road lines up with the intersection of Baymeadows Road East and Gate Parkway. Gate Parkway will be extended to the east and connect to the interior of the development. Other roadways will be developed.
• Ryals Village. Ryals Village is a proposed 25-acre single-family residential development planned for the property next to Ryals Swamp in the northeast part of the property.
• Single Family North. The 241-acre phase is proposed for single-family development south of the Town Center phase.
• Single Family South. The 126-acre phase is proposed for single-family development south of the north single-family phase.
The civil engineer is England-Thims and Miller Inc.
In May, the Skinner family indicated it would sell the timberland for shopping, working and living.
“We are optimistic that a plan like this will create something in Jacksonville that it hasn’t really experienced yet, something that is little more urban in a suburban area,” Skinner said in May. He represents the family members who own the property.
It’s also the last large undeveloped Duval County property site that remains of the Skinner family’s original 50,000 acres from the early 1900s. The rest has been sold and developed.
“This is our last large holding in the area. We are trying to cast a vision and hopefully get some parties that buy into that vision that we can bring into the property to develop it,” Skinner said.
Through Sawmill Timber LLC, the Skinners submitted the “Southeast Quadrant Mass Grading Plan” to the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The address is 5101 Kernan Blvd.
Skinner said the family’s Transportation Management Area agreement with the city requires it to connect Kernan Boulevard and Gate Parkway by 2023, which is in five years.
The development has been in motion for years.
City Council enacted an ordinance in 2005 to rezone 1,068 acres there for “a variety of uses including, office, commercial single-family, multi-family, and a high-school site.”
The application to rezone the property provided site development data showing acreage for commercial, office and institutional uses; multifamily use such as condominiums, townhomes and apartments; and single-family development.
The plans submitted in May and this week were prepared for Sawmill Timber LLC, comprising members of the Skinner family.
Consultants include the Peacock Consulting Group LLC environmental firm.
“We hope to have our permits this year,” Skinner said in May. Design and permitting the Transportation Management Area road is a yearlong process, he said.
The agreement allows the Skinners to develop half of the property before completing the road, he said.
He could not quote a timeline for development, leaving that to “interested parties” who are talking with the Skinners about possibly developing there.
Access to the site will be via Kernan Boulevard and Gate Parkway. Skinner said the Florida Department of Transportation plans to improve the Kernan interchange as part of the I-295 work program.
The department said the Kernan Boulevard ramps, except the westbound Butler Boulevard ramp, will see additional 12-foot lanes constructed as part of the I-295 Express Lanes project between Florida 9B and Butler.
Skinner said the family has agreed to donate about 7 acres for construction of a northbound loop off Butler Boulevard.
Those who buy the property for development likely will be responsible for some of the infrastructure improvements, Skinner said.
The conceptual and phasing plans show internal roads connecting the project elements.
With the site being the last large piece of the family holdings to be developed, Skinner said in May it “absolutely” induces nostalgia.
His great-grandfather bought the 50,000 acres and the land was divided among generations of family members since then.
“It’s really the last holding of any of the last remaining of the Skinner family of the original tract. Everything else has been sold or developed,” he said.
Nine members of his generation own the Sawmill Timber tract, he said. About 175 Skinner family members gather each Thanksgiving at a cabin on the property.
“We feel like you can’t stop growth and we’ve been very blessed with what we’ve been given and the work that’s been done in the generations before us,” Skinner said.
