St. Johns County issued building permits for the first two structures of a 74,500-square-foot mixed-use development in St. Augustine.
Airport Commons is planned to include commercial and retail spaces, along with “man cave”-style storage units for boat, vehicle and equipment storage.
The county issued two building permits June 17 and 18 at a total project cost of $4.5 million for the commercial buildings, which total 37,800 square feet.
At build-out, Airport Commons proposes four buildings.
At 55 Cessna Way, Airport Commons is about 3 miles north of Northeast Florida Regional Airport.
Maverick Engineering of St. Augustine is the civil engineer for the roughly 6-acre development.
Neptune Beach-based Custom Builders is the developer and landowner through Airport Commons North LLC.
Custom Builders owner Daryl Grubbs said he and his partners are having leasing discussions with dental and medical offices and a restaurant.
In May 2025, he said Total Salon Studios was the first confirmed tenant. He said it would have 40 salon suites.
“We’re looking at a variety of users,” he said. “This area is really underserved.”
In addition to the two retail buildings, Airport Commons is planned to include condominium storage facilities Grubbs is calling “annex garages” that are designed for boat, vehicle or other equipment storage.
Grubbs described the units as “the ultimate man cave.” He said they will be sold individually.
Pricing starts at $379,000 for a 1,275-square-foot unit that includes a full bathroom and a loft space where users can install amenities such as a big screen TV, wet bar and golf simulator, Grubbs said.
Users cannot live in the garages nor can they run businesses out of them, he said.
Grubbs said he hopes to have the permits to build the garages as early as next week.
Airport Commons North LLC bought the four parcels comprising the site in May 2024. It bought two parcels May 8 for $2.2 million from Shipwatch LLC. It acquired two additional parcels May 20 for $900,000 from CWIC LLC.