The former president of Amelia Island Company and an international businessman formed a partnership to develop Crane Island, a master planned community with 113 high-end single-family lots on 185 acres between the Intracoastal Waterway and Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport.
Jack Healan Jr., well-known in Nassau County for his long-time involvement in developing Amelia Island Plantation, partnered in 2012 with Saad Wallan, the founder and chairman of the Wallan Group, based in Saudi Arabia. They purchased the property for Crane Island in 2014 for $9.9 million.
On Friday, representatives from the numerous companies that have signed on to be part of the project met at the site to celebrate the community being selected to build Southern Living's “2019 Idea House.”
Every year, the publication chooses a location in the Southeast to build and decorate a model home to showcase unique designs. This house will be 4,540 square feet, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
The magazine will feature the home in its August 2019 edition, meaning the chosen homebuilder, Jacksonville-based Riverside Homes, needs to start it immediately to have it finished by May.
Chris Wood and Matt Roberts, founders of Riverside Homes, said they are up for the challenge to get it finished in such a short period of time, since most homes of this size would take at least 10 months to build.
Riverside is one of the four homebuilders selected to build homes in Crane Island. The other three are Pickett Construction, DF Luxury Homes and Cam Bradford Homes.
Of the 47 lots that have been plotted for the first phase of construction, Crane Island's vice president of sales and marketing, John Hillman, said three have sold, six have been purchased by the homebuilders and five are under contract. He said lots are selling between $350,000 to more than $1 million, and homes will range from $900,000 to about $4 million. The second phase of construction will have an additional 66 lots added to the community. The entire project, which will be gated and have amenities like a clubhouse, park, infinity pool, fitness center, bocce courts and boat docks, is expected to be complete by 2024.
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