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 originally purchased in 2006 by Chase Properties, 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 been sitting vacant ever since.
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 on the Intracoastal.
“Beautiful, well-appointed townhouses with boat slips that can accommodate up to a 40-foot boats are in demand and will sell very well,” said Floryan. “Nothing like having your boat in the back yard, it’s as good as it gets.”
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 developer Jason Huntley.
Pre-construction prices of the 2,256 to 2,391 square foot units start in the low $500,000’s, but will go up as construction continues. They are leveling the land, putting in infrastructure and construction will start this month. The first building, which will house six units including a model, will be ready before mid-year.
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 developer Joshua 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 has 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 $500,000’s to the mid $700,000’s. 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.
Spalten and Huntley, 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 come in and adjust 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 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 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and worked for KPMG and MPS Group before joining KB.
After working together, they decided to go out on their own, using their construction and development backgrounds to create SH Design.
Since opening, they have built many semi-custom homes in 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.