Skinner family members continue to develop land they own in Southside with the Bay95 retail center and possibly another larger one next to it.
Charles Skinner, vice president of Property Theater LLC, intends to develop the multitenant Bay95 on 1.9 acres of the northeast quadrant of Baymeadows Road and Interstate 295.
He will develop it for Bay95 LLC, which is a real estate investment company owned by his brothers, Russell R. Skinner and Bryant B. Skinner Jr.
The Skinners are the descendants of the Skinner family, which owned thousands of acres of agricultural land that eventually became the St. Johns Town Center and other developments.
Charles Skinner said he has a signed lease for one of the nine retail spaces at the new project and three more are in negotiation. He declined to identify them.
Both end units will feature a drive-thru window, likely indicating at least two food-service tenants.
Skinner expects the 14,400-square-foot retail center will be available in November. It is a $1.728 million investment.
The architect is Kasper Architects + Associates. EnVision Design + Engineering LLC is the civil engineer. No contractor has been chosen, he said.
Skinner said the center has direct access on and off of Interstate 295.
The property is near the Ikea under development at northwest Gate Parkway and I-295 and other projects along Gate Parkway, including the new Southside Quarter and the Gateway Village at Town Center properties.
Also, he said Bay95 will be near more than 1,000 apartments that were developed by Fort Family Investments, the Old Still single-family residential project, the Sweetwater by Del Webb community and the established Deerwood Country Club.
Bay95 fronts R.G. Skinner Parkway to the north along Baymeadows Road East. Across the parkway are about 10 acres where the Skinners are contemplating another center.
Possibilities there include a big-box retailer, a specialty grocer or other combinations, Skinner said, along with outparcels.
“Eventually it’s happening,” said Justin Clark, president of Property Theater, although he had no timeframe.
“The sooner, the better,” Skinner said.
The Charles Skinner Co., as agent for the owners, applied to the city for a minor modification to a Planned Unit Development for the property. It wants to reduce a buffer.
R.G. Skinner was the brothers’ grandfather. For decades, the family owned and operated a dairy farm and distilled turpentine from the vast forest of pine trees. The A.C. Skinner family sold property in 2003 for St. Johns Town Center.
“It’s really phenomenal,” Charles Skinner said. “The land sat there for 100 years with nothing but cows and turpentine, and in the past 35 years it has been almost developed out,” he said.
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