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The Mathis Report: Inside look at how companies are lured to city
May 16-22, 2019
PAGE 4
jaxdailyrecord.com
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT JACKSONVILLE
BLAZING Record & Observer THE TRAIL Record & Observer
Special to the Daily Record
This building at 9201 Atlantic Blvd. was a Coggin Pontiac auto dealership.
JACKSONVILLE Landowners plan 5,000-home project in Southwest Jacksonville.
JEA wants to sell site at Atlantic, Southside
Bids start at $4 million for the site, part of the utility’s strategy to sell surplus property.
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
R. Lee Smith represents landowners who want to open West Jacksonville property for development. “We are going to offer the community an option.”
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
O
ver the next few decades, rural Southwest Jacksonville could see what other corners of the county have experienced — development of housing and retail centers. Two landowners are proposing to make almost 2,000 acres available for up to 5,000 single-family homes and 225,100 square feet of commercial space.
The project is called The Trails. “Jacksonville has got to grow and I think this is where it is going to grow,” said R. Lee Smith, representative of landowners Timber Forest Trail Investments LLC and Diamond Timber Investments LLC. The 1,978 acres are between Normandy Boulevard and the Clay County line, and between Maxville-Middleburg Road and Solomon Road. SEE THE TRAILS, PAGE 12
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“Jacksonville has got to grow and I think this is where it is going to grow.” R. LEE SMITH REPRESENTATIVE OF LANDOWNERS WHO PLAN TO MARKET THE PROPERTY
JEA wants to sell the high-profile northwest corner of Atlantic and Southside boulevards known to many as the former Coggin Pontiac auto dealership. The city utility issued an invitation to bid, seeking quotes for the property purchase at 9201 Atlantic Blvd. The site carries an appraisal of $4,033,750, which is the minimum offer JEA said it will accept. JEA says in the invitation that the site is about 5.98 acres, although it is shown as 5.4 acres in a utility presentation about its real estate strategy for surplus property sales. The bid due date is noon June 18. JEA will open the responses at 2 p.m. that day. Optional site visits are scheduled at 10 a.m. Thursday and Monday and additional visits can be requested. The property is zoned CCG-2 – commercial community/general-2, which outlines what is allowed or could be permitted by exception. SEE JEA, PAGE 12
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