? by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
North Florida’s biggest new development cut its ribbon and announced a new partnership last month.
OakLeaf Plantation, the 6,400-acre development straddling the Clay and Duval county lines west of Jacksonville, officially opened with a VIP preview followed by a weekend of parties to show potential buyers what they can expect.
The property is being developed by the Hutson Land Co. with a number of participating builders. Company owner David Hutson attended the VIP showing, but left the announcements to company President Don Hinson.
“David challenged us a year ago (after the groundbreaking,”) said Hinson. “He wanted a thousand lots developed, a family to move in and all transportation improvements in place.
“That’s been done by a great team of people who are on this project.”
Over $60 million already has been spent on the infrastructure of what eventually will have 11,000 homes.
A new partner was announced last month: East-West Partners, the company which developed Eagle Harbor, has taken a parcel and will develop a golf course community. (See adjacent story.)
The development’s opening ends a 30-year trail for the property through various owners and courts.
“This DRI was issued in 1972 when my father was a county commissioner,” said Larry Lancaster, a Clay County commissioner. “Finally, it gets done when I’m on the commission.”
His counterpart in Jacksonville, City Council member Alberta Hipps, lauded the cooperative work of the two counties.
“I’m so happy to see this come into being on my watch,” said Hipps, who will go out of office on July 1 due to term limitations. “A great deal of work has gone into this. It took cooperation between the counties. It shows that we can get things done by working together.”
Hipps has been a prime mover in the development of the Cecil Commerce Center, the old Naval Air Station Cecil Field that was turned over to Jacksonville in the last round of base closures. The commerce center is only a few miles away from OakLeaf Plantation up the new Branan Field-Chaffee Rd. and a mile west on 103rd Street.
The project includes several big commercial parcels which eventually may reach 2.5 million square feet. Under construction is Publix-anchored shopping center, and Hinson announced last month that Jacksonville’s Sleiman Enterprises will develop another center.
There also will be room for 3.7 million square feet of industrial space and 950,000 square feet of office space.
“This will mean as many as 12,000 jobs for this area,” said Kellie Jo Kilberg, who heads the Clay County development commission. “The payroll could reach $275 million. It’s much more than a residential development.”