By Michele Gillis, Staff Writer
After years of uncertainty, the former Lighthouse Grill property off Beach Boulevard is finally being developed.
The restaurant and property were purchased in 2006 by Chase Properties Inc., which planned to build 47 multi-family units on the 2.4-acre site. But, after the restaurant was torn down, the market tanked and the property has since been sitting vacant.
That will soon change as tractors and front-end loaders can be seen leveling the land, creating large piles of dirt to make way for Channelside Luxury Townhomes, developed by SH Design, a development and construction company in Jacksonville Beach.
"We need more townhomes at the beach, so I am glad the development is going up," said Kathleen Floryan of Ponte Vedra Club Realty.
Channelside, on the south side of the Beach Boulevard Intracoastal Waterway Bridge, will include 30 townhomes in five two-story buildings. Each unit will have a private 40-foot boat slip on a shared floating dock.
"Beautiful, well-appointed townhouses with boat slips that can accommodate up to a 40-foot boat are in demand and will sell very well," said Floryan.
Floryan said for people who want to have the security and ease of a townhouse and have more time for what they enjoy most — their boating lifestyle — this is a great location with quick access to the Intracoastal and not far to the ocean inlet.
"Nothing like having your boat in the backyard. It's as good as it gets," said Floryan.
SH Design is dredging the channel in front of the property to provide deep water access (four feet at low tide) for the homeowners' boats.
"If you went down there and looked at it, there are unobstructed views for five miles looking south," said Huntley.
Pre-construction prices of the 2,256- to 2,391-square-foot units start in the low $500,000s, but will increase as construction progresses.
They are leveling the land and putting in infrastructure. Construction will start this month. The first building, which will house six units including a model, will be ready the second quarter of 2014.
In addition, SH Design also purchased land just south of Jacksonville Beach off Avenue C, which is east of Florida A1A, to create Avalon at Ponte Vedra Beach, a single-family home community.
"There are about 15 existing homes back there, but the remaining lots will be ours," said Spalten.
SH Design is putting in two streets for the community and putting in infrastructure. The existing homes are on wells, but they will put in water, sewer and drainage for the new homes.
Avalon consists of 31 oversized lots with homes ranging in size from 2,740 to 3,500 square feet. A model and two spec homes are under construction and prices will range from the high $500,000s to the mid $700,000s. The model should be ready in five to six months.
Avalon will be a pre-sale community, but SH Design will have at least two specs ready for purchase as they sell pre-construction homes in the community.
"There are no other vacant land opportunities east of A1A at the beach, so we are very excited to build a community beachside," said Spalten. "It is also in St. Johns County, which is very important to our customers."
Both properties will be marketed by Steve Williams and Tim Shea of Edgewater Properties. Matt Henson and Brian Messina are the construction managers of both projects.
Developers Joshua Spalten and Jason Huntley of SH Design, along with their investment partner Capital Solutions IV, purchased the property through the foreclosure process for an undisclosed amount and are starting construction immediately.
Both developments will be a coastal modern design with cool neutral colors, bright, clean modern fixtures, expansive living areas and linear lines.
"We do all our floor plans from scratch, which takes forever," said Spalten.
As a semi-custom builder, they have plans available, but there is the availability for customers to adjust them to meet their needs.
Spalten and Huntley opened their company two years ago after working for about six years together at KB Homes. Spalten was on the operations and construction side at KB while Huntley was on the purchasing side.
Huntley said the market started to change slightly about two years ago and they decided to go out on their own.
"An opportunity arose and we just jumped on it," said Huntley.
Interestingly, they both attended the University of Florida, but didn't meet until they both worked at KB.
Spalten earned a bachelor's degree in construction management and joined KB
Homes right out of college. Huntley earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in accounting. She worked for KPMG right out of college for three years and then MPS Group for three years before joining KB.
Since working together, they have built semi-custom homes in locations around the Beaches including Avalon North, Atlantic Shores and a few lots near Sunshine Park, but are now ready to focus mainly on this new adventure.