by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
With the 35-foot height limit now enforced, one of the last condominium projects over the limit is now under construction at the beach by Jim Hardwick, an Amelia Island developer.
Ocean Park Condominiums, across the street from the new Ocean Park on 5th Avenue South in Jacksonville Beach, is underway and should be completed by the fall of 2006.
“We like this location because it has a non-restricted ocean view,” said Hardwick. “It also has the activity of First Street, with people on bikes, the joggers and rollerbladers. There is a lot going on that if you are interested in that lifestyle, enjoy the activity and the liveliness of the beach, then this is the perfect location for that.”
The nine-story building will have 17 condominiums units, each with three bedrooms and three baths. Prices range from $885,900 to $1,259,000.
As of May, they have six sold and two are in negotiations.
“There will be two units per floor and there will be a central elevator that opens directly into the units,” said Hardwick. “Each is an end unit meaning that it has view, breeze and light on three sides. Each unit is 2,600 square feet gross and 2,300 square feet net.”
Though land is hard to come by at the beach, Hardwick came upon his approximately 100 foot lot by luck. He was introduced to the owners of the land through the bank which asked him to consult with a group of men who had property at the beach.
He ended up buying their property from them to develop into condominiums.
“There were four men who came together and acquired the property,” said Hardwick. “They acquired three different properties to make one large property and then sold the property and the development rights to me.”
Susan Kinley, a broker-realtor with Re/Max Atlantic who specializes in both residential and commercial, represents Ocean Park as the listing agent.
“Dwayne Whidby is one of my team members who also represents Re/Max Atlantic as a selling agent for on site sales and is on site from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily,” said Kinley.
LandSouth is the general contractor on the project. Amenities on the project include an elevated pool, access to the beach, covered parking spaces and one parking space outside the building. The two penthouse units will have private separate parking garages with their own door that will be accessible through the building.
“There will be security for the structure,” said Hardwick. “It will come in the form of gates, fences and controls at the door announcing your arrival.”
There will also be security via the elevators and access to each individual unit.
“We are finding buyers that have children, especially with the park across the street,” said Kinley. “We have several buyers who have small children since the schools are good. At least two couples I know have children under the age of 12.
“We also have empty nesters that are downsizing from a home. We have people buying as a second home. Our buyers are coming from California to Atlanta to right here in Jacksonville.”
If the name Hardwick sounds familiar, it’s because he’s been developing residential properties for over 30 years.
Hardwick attended Clemson University on a football scholarship and studied architecture. When his father passed away, he decided to drop the football and focus only on architecture. When he graduated, he went to Germany with the Corps of Engineers. When he returned he went to work for Stevens & Wilkinson, an architectural firm, in Atlanta.
“We did the Atlanta airport and a lot of other major projects,” said Hardwick. “It is the largest continually operating architectural firm in the Southeast, started in 1919.”
He stayed there for about four years and then became a registered architect.
“I then realized that architecture was a rich man’s hobby that I couldn’t afford so I went to Georgia State University and got a master’s in business administration with a major in real estate,” he said.
He then joined the Sea Pines Company at Amelia Island Plantation in 1971 as the vice president of residential development.
“I did all the condominium projects in the early 1970’s,” he said.
When real estate and finance went through a rough patch with high interest rates, Hardwick took a detour to work on some projects in Puerto Rico and in South Carolina while still with the Sea Pines Company.
He then left the Sea Pines Company and chose to join a business partner, Reynolds Couch, an appraiser, and they formed Couch Hardwick and Associates in Atlanta.
“We were on retainer with the First National and CNS Bank in Atlanta and did a lot of evaluations of property,” he said. “We looked at things for the trust department and did a lot of real estate consulting.”
He then decided to form his own company, Hardwick & Company, in the late 1970’s. He found a property and an investor in Hilton Head, S.C. and developed it into Land’s End.
“It’s a very successful cottage type property,” he said. “Like any ambitious developer, the next project needs to be 20 times bigger, so I came back to Amelia Island and acquired a half-mile of oceanfront.”
He is now breaking ground on the fourth building of the last phase of a condominium project at Amelia Island Plantation on that half-mile of oceanfront.
“It is an oceanfront condominium project with an average price of $2 million,” he said. “I have a half-mile of oceanfront and we started development in the 1980’s. It was a hotel site that we decided not to do a hotel, but a luxury condominium project instead. It has 56 units in four seven-story buildings. There are 14 units per building.”
When this project is completed, Hardwick will have approximately 280 units total that he has developed in Amelia Island Plantation’s Dunes Club.
His current other projects include a 15-unit condominium project at Palencia called the Promenade in the Village Center.
“It will compliment the Village area very much,” he said. “It has an incredible location with all the amenities. You are with three minute walk from everything Palencia has to offer from a recreational amenity standpoint.”
During his 30-plus years developing, Hardwick has done a total of 38 condominium projects.