D-BAT
Nationwide indoor training facility D-BAT Baseball & Softball Academies is exploring a Nassau County facility off U.S. 17 less than a mile south of Florida 200 in Yulee.
Following a March 25 JEA service availability request, Nassau County began its review of the D-BAT project April 21.
D-BAT was founded in 1998 by brothers Cade Griffis and Kyle Griffis and has grown to include more than 145 locations, including franchises introduced in 2009.
Locations offer private lessons, cage rentals, camps, clinics and classes, according to the company’s website.
The project is proposed next to a Dollar General on vacant land owned by Jacksonville-based Holland-Zell Partnership LLP.
Site plans show a 15,000-square-foot enclosed facility with 69 parking spaces and associated stormwater management systems. In Northeast Florida, D-BAT operates academies in Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Green Cove Springs.
Wildlight Commerce Park
Pattillo Industrial Real Estate opened its first speculative building March 26 at Wildlight Commerce Park in Nassau County.
The 67,656-square-foot industrial warehouse at 100 Wildworks Ave. is about 1.5 miles east of Interstate 95 off Florida 200 in Yulee. Pattillo broke ground on the building in June 2025.
A second 149,104-square-foot building, also part of the first phase of the project, is under construction and expected to be completed by the end of July, according to Peter Anderson, Pattillo vice president of new investments.
At completion, Wildlight Commerce Park is planned to include 12 buildings totaling 1.6 million square feet, according to the company. Pattillo announced in November 2022 that it would develop the commerce park over 10 years.
Pattillo is based in Atlanta and has an office in Jacksonville.
Wildlight is a master-planned, mixed-use community developed by Raydient Places + Properties, a subsidiary of Rayonier Inc., and includes residential, retail and health care components.
Life Time
Life Time Inc. is planning a location in the Durbin Park area for the health club chain’s second fitness center in Northeast Florida.
Gate Petroleum, which owns the land through Durbin Creek National LLC, confirmed Life Time was under contract June 18.
City-owned utility JEA issued a service availability letter for the proposed 85,000-square-foot project March 16.
In Jacksonville, Life Time is permitted for construction at the master-planned Seven Pines development. Life Time officials said that location will be a two-story, 85,000-square-foot “athletic country club” with a 50,000-square-foot outdoor beach club.
The city issued permits Dec. 11, 2025, for that project, at a cost of more than $30 million.
LTF Real Estate Co. Inc. of Chanhassen, Minnesota, where Life Time is based, bought the Seven Pines property for $8.19 million in March 2024 from Sawmill Timber LLC.
In total, Life Time has 185 locations in 32 states and Canada. Elsewhere at Durbin Park, Gate has plans for a Peyton Family YMCA, with early projections of more than 50,000 square feet.
White Castle
White Castle, a fast-food slider chain, plans to enter the Northeast Florida market with a proposed location in St. Augustine, according to documents filed April 13 in St. Johns County.
The 2,764-square-foot restaurant with a 270-square-foot outdoor seating area and dual drive-thru is slated for an outparcel in a Walmart Supercenter under construction at World Commerce Center off International Golf Parkway and Florida 16, just south of Tocoi Creek High School.
The supercenter, at 3405 International Golf Parkway, is about 2 miles west of Bass Pro Shops, Buc-ee’s and Costco at World Commerce Center.
Florida has three White Castles in Clermont, Kissimmee and Orlando, with a fourth scheduled to open in Daytona Beach in late fall, according to a news release.
Founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, by Billy Ingram, White Castle owns and operates 341 restaurants, its website says. In addition, the company operates a retail division to sell branded food nationally in grocery stores, as well as meat-processing plants, bakeries and frozen-slider retail facilities.
In 2014, Time magazine named White Castle’s Original Slider the most influential burger of all time.
Madison Seagrass
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Madison Capital Group, through its subsidiary Madison Communities, broke ground March 25 on a multifamily community in St. Augustine developed in accordance with Florida’s Live Local Act.
The project, Madison Seagrass, is planned at 875 Florida 16 near Kenton Morrison Road and is expected to include 278 apartments.
The company’s website shows plans for six three-story residential buildings, three parking structures, a clubhouse and other amenities.
The project cost, according to St. Johns County permits, is $26.6 million. According to the developer, about 40% of the units would be designated under Florida’s Live Local Act, which supports multifamily housing projects on land zoned commercial, industrial or mixed-use. The law, enacted in 2023 and refined a year later, provides land use exceptions, financial incentives and tax benefits to developers who agree to restrict 40% of total units to tenants whose income is at or below 120% of the area median income. The area median income for St. Johns County was $102,500 in 2025, according to the Florida Housing Finance Corp., and 120% of that amount equates to $123,000.
No information was available regarding rental rates or unit sizes for Madison Seagrass. Madison operates communities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, according to the company’s website.
SilerLeaf Publix
About a year after receiving building permits from the county, Publix opened a store March 26 in a new shopping center in the SilverLeaf master-planned community in St. Johns County, its largest Northeast Florida supermarket.
Permitted by St. Johns County in March 2025 at a cost of $9 million, the 55,700-square-foot store at 1975 SilverLeaf Parkway models Publix’s latest prototype, with features such as a Publix Pours beer, wine and coffee bar, an expanded deli with burrito bowls and pizza, and upgraded product displays. The site is almost 3 miles northwest of International Golf Parkway and St. Johns Parkway.
The average Publix footprint is about 50,000 square feet.
A 2,100-square-foot Publix liquor store at the site is also open. Signed tenants in the shopping plaza include MShack, Avalon Nails & Spa, Club Pilates, SoFresh Jacksonville, UPS, Fifth Third Bank and Dunkin’, according to developer Chet Skinner.
Another large-format Publix is under construction in Fernandina Beach at 1421 Sadler Road to replace a store that closed in April 2025 and was demolished.
The new location is expected to open in the third quarter, Publix spokesperson Hannah Herring said.