The first phase of construction in the Nocatee Preserve will begin shortly, bringing to life the partnership between St. Johns County and the developers of the budding city.
The Nocatee Preserve is approximately 2,400 acres stretching more than three miles along the Intracoastal Waterway. The land was donated to the county by The PARC Group, and will have trails, parking facilities, restrooms and a picnic area.
The initiative was cited when The PARC Group won two major Laurel Awards earlier this year. The company won the Grand Award as well as Developer of the Year.
The Laurel Awards are given annually by the Sales and Marketing Council, a division of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. They are considered the highest awards a North Florida company involved in real estate or construction can receive, and rarely has a company won two of the major awards.
“The PARC Group has committed to an environmentally-conscious development plan which incorporates thousands of acres of preserved wetlands and uplands,” said a company spokesman. “The St. Johns River, Durbin Creek, Twelve Mile Swamp, Tolomato River Basin and the Atlantic Ocean are all regionally interconnected with the acres of Nocatee uniting significant ecosystems. More than 60 percent of the Nocatee land will be preserved to protect the safe havens and migratory passageways of birds and animals that call Nocatee home along with the protection of important tributaries, flora and fauna.”
In all, 9,000 acres will be preserved:
• The Nocatee Preserve has 2,400 acres.
• The town itself will have 330 acres of community and neighborhood parks.
• The Nocatee Greenway comprises over 6,000 acres of preserved land interwoven throughout the town.
Additional development standards have been implemented:
• In the Nocatee Environmental Water Resource Area Plan, effluent will not be released in the nearby waterways of the Nocatee area. Sewage from Nocatee will be pumped to a JEA treatment plant, treated and released as reuse irrigation water.
• Groundwater wells are prohibited.
• Storm water treatment ponds have environmentally appropriate vegetation.
When complete, the Town of Nocatee will cove a 14,000 acre, 28 square mile parcel of land from the Intracoastal Waterway to U.S. 1. The land area is so large that it once had five separate ZIP Codes — it’s now just one: Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081.
There will be nine schools and Ponte Vedra High already has opened. There will be two police substations, a fire department, the largest water park in the area, a Town Center with about a million square feet and four million square feet of commercial and office space.
Builders have been selling since late 2006 and include CornerStone Homes, Taylor Morrison, Del Webb, Lennar, Pulte Homes, Toll Brothers and Ryland Homes.
Price points range from condominiums from the $130’s to single family homes priced well over $1 million.
Part of the company’s Laurel Award nomination was emphasis on a community event called the Nocatee Farmers Market, which draws over 2,000 people each month and which has grown from 22 vendors to a capacity 60. It includes a variety of products and the developer adds entertainment such as a local Bluegrass band, a Nease High School student playing acoustic guitar, the Jacksonville Wind Ensemble and the Jacksonville Navy Band Jazz Quintet.