Baker County Booms
Duval buyers looking west
Anne Luallin
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As Duval County finds itself bursting at its residential seams,
neighboring Baker County is experiencing a boom in housing
opportunities, in part due to the influx of 47,000 acres International
Paper sold last year to a dozen landowners.
Macclenny Realtor Thomas Rhoden saw the opportunity and bought 5,000
acres with local partner Todd Knabb and John Curtis of Gainesville. The
trio is developing Glen Plantation, a 930-acre development in Glen St.
Mary, two miles northwest of Macclenny. The development will feature a
gated community of 10-acre lots with three to four miles of equestrian
trails. Water and sewerage are provided by wells and septic tanks. The
remaining land is for sale in 1-, 5- and 10-acre tracts, with prices an
acre respectively at $18,500, $8,500, and $7,500.
The country atmosphere and "investment prices" are attracting people
from Jacksonville's bursting Southside, Rhoden said. "Sixty-five to 70
percent of the people we're selling to are from Duval County." Rhoden
expects Glen Plantation to sell out quickly.
As for the remaining 4,000 acres, the partners are "growing pine trees
and waiting for future growth." Rhoden expects it may be five to 10
years before Baker County experiences a hot market like Duval, but he
knows it's coming. "The land price is cheaper, we've got recreation, the
golf course, the national forest, and we're only 30 minutes from
Jacksonville."
Of the 8,700 acres Ricky Davis bought from International Paper, he plans
to sell 1,200 and keep the remaining 7,500 another five years, "when it
will be worth much more." Davis, owner of R.H. Davis Oil Co. Inc. in
Macclenny, is selling the land in 5- to 200-acre tracts at $4,000 to
$8,000 an acre, depending on the total size. In the meantime, he'll grow
pine trees.
"I'm a little bullish," he said. "We're close to Jacksonville; we're
going to grow. I wouldn't be surprised if we'd double our population in
five years."
Ginger Barber, executive director of the Baker County Development
Commission, sees the county as an expanding suburb of Jacksonville.
Growth is coming, Barber said, in part due to the opening last year of
the Wal-Mart distribution center, which brought 600 jobs, as well as the
large timber land sales.
Real estate analyst Ray Rodriguez, who tracks Duval, Clay, Nassau and
St. Johns counties, isn't surprised at the number of people buying
acreage in Baker. "It's the last frontier heading west," he said.
Charles Clark, a Northeast Florida residential real estate consultant,
agrees. Increasing job growth will spur residential development, he
said. "Realistically, I estimate it as a five- to 10-year project."
According to the 2000 census, Baker County's population totaled 22,000
and is projected to grow to 29,000 by 2020. Census figures show home
sales averaged $90,122, with the county's total assessed land value at
$531 million, 39.5 percent of which was residential, 19.4 percent was
agricultural, and the remaining 40 percent was industrial, commercial
and miscellaneous.
Industrial centers include Enterprise East, a 250-acre industrial park
in Macclenny that includes the Wal-Mart distribution center. Enterprise
West, a sister park of 81 acres, is off Interstate 10 in Sanderson.
Macclenny's first planned unit development, Cypress Pointe, is heading
for a new development this summer. Developer George Knabb Jr., who
bought the property from timber company Rayonier in November 2000, said
he is scheduled to sell 115 of the project's 126 acres to Kendale Land
Development Inc. for $585,000.
Kendale, based in Jacksonville, will develop the 115 acres for
single-family homes, and Knabb will develop the remaining 11 acres into
120 townhomes.
Although Kendale has developed subdivisions in Duval and Clay counties,
"this is our first development in Baker County," Cutts said. "We are
looking at a few other parcels, but future acquisitions depend on market
interest."
The county is attracting interest from all over the country, according
to a local Realtor. "We get 200 to 300 inquiries a week from California
to North Carolina," said Anna Williams of United County St. Marys Realty
in Macclenny.
"The community really sells itself," she said. "Everyone's really
friendly."
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