By Carole Hawkins
A day after mega-community TrailMark’s introductory Realtor event, Stone Creek threw out its own welcome mat.
The opening of the 44-home neighborhood was a quieter, more intimate affair. But, that’s more the play anyway.
“We know we’re a small player in this market today,” said David Smith, Florida division president for AV Homes, Stone Creek’s developer. “But bigger isn’t always better. Better is better.”
Stone Creek is located along the booming County Road 210 corridor, sandwiched among such Goliaths as 2,600-home Shearwater, 4,950-home RiverTown, both to the west, and the soon-expected 2,000-home Twin Creeks to the east.
Smith knows the master-planned community market — AV Homes is finishing sales at Cypress Trails at Nocatee, a market-dominant behemoth.
But there are customers who don’t want master-planned living, because they don’t use public recreation centers and community pools, he said.
They walk away from the CDD fees and high HOA fees and look for a true enclave.
It’s that market he’s hoping to capture.
“We don’t need a thousand people to love us. We only need 44,” Smith said.
Stone Creek features 80-foot-wide “oversized” lots. It offers six models, each with three different elevations, ranging from traditional to Mediterranean to Florida low country and craftsman styles.
Like AV Homes’ other communities, the mix of architecture is intended to give the feel of an older neighborhood — a San Marco, Riverside or Mandarin.
Floor plans range from 2,400 to 4,400 square feet and starting prices, from $347,000 to $474,000.
When the 466-home Julington Lakes opened a few months ago farther west, the developer described its large County Road 210 parcel as a proverbial hole in the donut of available land. Smith said Stone Creek is more like taking a small slice of the County Road 210 pie.
“It makes what we have more precious because it’s limited,” he said.
County Road 210 is a well-established residential corridor but is still far from build-out, Smith said.
Its commercial offerings, including a Publix-anchored shopping center and several strip malls, are mostly west of the Interstate 95 exit, where communities like Cimarrone and South Hampton are built out.
Now, development is pushing west toward the St. Johns River. Stone Creek is joining that wave.
Developments from 60 lots to 250 lots are regularly popping up and there’s still land to be had, Smith said.
From a homebuyer’s point of view, northwest St. Johns County is now a bedroom community for Jacksonville.
It may be long commute to Downtown. But it’s only a 20-minute commute to the ever-growing Southside employment centers.
Government fees can be tough on development, Smith said. But on the whole, St. Johns has managed the growth well, keeping school construction and road widenings on pace with homebuilding.
“I first came here 15 years ago. It’s amazing how much closer 210 has gotten to Jacksonville,” Smith said. “It’s not considered to be ‘out there’ anymore.”