by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
A new private, exclusive single-family residential community, Pablo Creek Reserve, is coming to the San Pablo area.
“There’s nothing in Jacksonville that is quite like this,” said Vikki Stockton, director of sales and marketing for The PARC Group, Inc. who is developing the community. “What we are trying to do is eliminate some of the trendy ness and have it be a very classic type of neighborhood. We want to create a residential community that is small, exclusive and will increase the value of real estate in the entire overall area.”
Pablo Creek Reserve will be south of J. Turner Butler Boulevard where San Pablo Road ends. It’s near the exclusive Pablo Creek Golf Club and is on the northern edge of the giant planned community of Nocatee.
The 405-acre community will have from 255 to 300 homesites separated into two categories, estate lots and club cottages.
Creativity and diversity in the home styles are welcomed as long as the houses are true to the architectural style they choose.
“We are creating something that I don’t believe has been done in the Northeast Florida area of selling before,” she said. “We have created the Pablo Creek Reserve’s Architectural Pattern Book. If someone wanted to build a European style house, we show the buyers what a European type house has in terms of detail. We wanted to help our buyers when they start thinking about building a house. We broke down several of the architectural styles and gave them ideas of exactly what it will look like.”
The homes in Pablo Creek Reserve will be classic with authentic architectural designs.
“We’ve talked about Mediterranean or European Old World, which could be anything from Tuscan to French country,” said Stockton. “There’s a whole rainbow of that style. We’ve talked about Georgian Federal, which is the typical brick house with white columns up the front. There is the farmhouse, which tends to be a low rambling house, usually white with black shutters with deep porches that go around it. We’ve discussed the low country with a raised seam metal roof. It’s going to be a lovely neighborhood.”
Stockton said they would have architectural control over the homes built in Pablo Creek Reserve giving them the chance to create a community accentuated with several different types of architecture.
In addition to the style, the developers are very intent on using the natural trees on the land and extensive landscaping to separate each home.
The lots are offset so the homes will not open front door to front door. Homeowners open their door to landscaping and natural tree area.
After the lot clearing, they are going to plant a large hardwood tree every 50 feet so in a few years, there will be a large tree canopy throughout the entire community.
Every home site will be located on a lake or a nature reserve.
“The reason people have said they like the community is that they are wild about our vision for the classical architecture,” said Stockton. “What we are really doing is creating a neighborhood that will be timeless for generations to come. This is going to have a gorgeous classical look to it. They like that there isn’t going to be a country club here. It won’t have the hustle and bustle of a country club community. It’s very small, centrally located and private.”
“We have two different sizes of home sites,” said Stockton. “The estate size lots have a minimum square footage of 4,000 square feet. Estate lots in the first phase averaged about $365,000. The club cottage lots have a minimum square footage of 3,000 square feet. Club cottage lots in the first phase averaged $220,000. We are not certain if we will need to add a few more. We may need to bring on a few more club cottage lots. Homes will probably start at $700,000 and go up.”
Stockton said buyers have ranged from families with small children to retirees.
“I’d say the main group is in the 40’s to early 60’s,” she said. “A lot of people wanted to leave a larger house and do something a little bit smaller. It’s a complete typical across the board mixture of buyers.”
The community will be gated and the main amenity will be a 4 1/2-acre central recreational area that will have winding lagoons, a grand lawn, children’s adventure play area, splash fountain and pet park.
“It will be a great area for family gatherings,” said Stockton.
There will also be four miles of walking and jogging trails throughout the community.
The homebuilders in the community include Benchmark Homes, C.F. Knight, Inc., Collier Classic Homes, Grandeur Homes, Inc., The Pineapple Corporation and Whitehurst Builders, Inc.
They broke ground at the end of February and Stockton believes that people can start construction on their homes in late September.
“After the groundbreaking, we will be putting in the roads and the infrastructure, putting utilities underground and digging out the lakes,” said Stockton. “We will be very, very busy. By the time the first residents can move into their home, we will have our amenities finished which is the guard house and central park and recreational area.”
They will not have golf, tennis or swimming pools in terms of community activities. A sales office will be constructed after the roads are completed in September.
“I expect to have two other agents working with me at that site,” said Stockton.
The land was not developed previously because it was under private ownership by D.D.I and Estuary.
“They own a lot of land around this area,” said Stockton. “They own the land that the Pablo Creek golf course is on. They came up with the idea of creating a beautiful residential community that would be adjacent to the golf course. The residents can’t use the golf course unless they are members.”
The golf course will be separated from the community with thick landscaping and trees.
Currently, a 10 percent deposit is required on lots. They anticipate closing in September when people could start building their homes.
Out of 99 lots, they have contracts on 86. Once they get the closings on the first phase of 99 lots, they will then decide what to roll out in their second phase.
“I don’t expect our second phase until early summer,” she said. “There are very few opportunities in our area right now to get a lovely piece of property to build a classic home on. There are beautiful communities all around, but they have not had the control over the architecture that we will have. People are excited to get into a place where they can spend their time and money to build the home of their dreams in the style that they love. They will also be assured that that theme will be carried out throughout the community. We will not allow someone to come in and build a home that wouldn’t fit in with the overall scheme of the community.”