San Marco Sub-Market Highlight - Jacksonville
Updated: Sep 1, 2019
I took the opportunity to explore San Marco area of Jacksonville within the last few weeks. A truly vibrant community that has that small town feel to it. I'm drawn to the historical architecture styles are incorporated with the newer construction. This brings back memories of growing up in a small town with a city center this size.
I enjoyed a great gyro for lunch from Ajeen and Juice. Pretty cool, they cater to dog walkers with an outside area with water bowl and poop trash can. That's the first restaurant that I've seen with that. It's simple but monumental to dog owners.
For multifamily in the area, there are a considerable amount of apartment developments within a short drive that will have an impact to the area. The most likely developments:
East San Marco by Blue Rock with the Publix grocery store is planned to add 239 market rate units to the area. Last status given was "on hold" due to material costs being higher than originally expected.

As you can see as of March 27th 2018, the site remains untouched at the corner of Hendricks Ave and Atlantic Blvd. So estimated completion date is TBD.
The Broadstone River House by Alliance Residential Co. is bringing 263 market rate units to the area. This will be on the south side of St. Johns River directly on the water. Based out of Arizona, Alliance Residential has an extensive experience developing multifamily properties across the US. I've lived in two different Alliance properties in two different markets. I'm looking forward to seeing more of their quality work in the market.

As you can see, the development is well underway. The Duval county school building is just to the right of this photo and the Lexington Hotel and conference center would be to the left. This is Prudential Dr adjacent to the complex. Estimated completion date appears to be by December 2018 but I'll provide updates with progress.
The District mixed-use development site is a 2 minute walk from the Broadstone River House. There seems to be a lot of skepticism and back and forth based on news articles and politics. My understanding is that a next step in the approval process will be coming to fruition shortly.

No construction activity can be seen at the site of The District. This will bring retail, multifamily, and office into one location to embrace the live/work integration being pushed for across the nation. Like many, I'm skeptical of how much real demand there is for this. I look forward to seeing progress on this project.
That's the big ticket items that I was able to find in the San Marco area. There is so much more happening in other sub-markets of Jacksonville that I will get to as I make my rounds. Stay tuned for more.
Jake Ammon is a Vice President with Addison Commercial Real Estate in Jacksonville, FL. He specializes in commercial investment properties. Contact him at jake@acrei.com or call Jake at 1-904-834-9809.
