After Wal-Mart, low, low land prices lure a mega-project

Dolly Penland Correspondent

Published: March 7, 2005

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Baker County, long the province of timbering, could soon see its first

large-scale commercial/residential development, a few years after retail

giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened a distribution center.

Adar Developers LLP of Miami, which owns about 3,650 acres in the center

of the rural county, has preliminary plans to build up to 15,000 homes

over the next 20 years in a mixed-use development that may also include

a 200-acre commercial zone. A spokesman for the developer said plans for

the property are still preliminary and very fluid.

"When talking about something of this size, it's premature to say

anything," said Ryan Bailine, an associate with Shutts & Bowen LLP in

Miami who said he represents Adar Developers.

Amran Adar is a principal in Adar Developers, a limited liability

partnership. According to a public documents search, the developer's

other projects include at least two 99 Cent Supercenter stores in South

Florida and two new condominium projects in Tallahassee.

The Tallahassee City Commission recently approved Symphony Condominiums,

a 10-story, 80-unit building with commercial space near the Florida

State University's College of Music. The commission is slated to

consider March 9 the other project, The Village, a four-building,

147-unit condominium project near the university's School of Fine Arts.

Adar Developers is expected to file a pre-application for the Baker

County development in about a month with the Northeast Florida Regional

Council, which oversees the development of regional impact program.

"We'll see some relatively rudimentary information at that junction,

site plans, total number of square feet, things like that," said Brian

Teeple, executive director of the Northeast Florida Planning Council.

The formal development application will be filed in the fall, Teeple

said.

About 24,000 people now live in Baker County, but Teeple said the county

could see significant development in the next couple of decades. In

2002, International Paper sold 47,000 acres to a dozen developers.

At the time, most of the land was designated agricultural, said Ginger

Barber, executive director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce and

the Baker County Development Commission. "The land use had to change and

the zoning had to change from timber to residential development to

develop that land.

"Now the city and county are looking at the possibility of impact fees

to offset some of the expense of the services that are going to have to

be provided to the new residents," Barber said.

While the Adar project would be the first massive mixed-used development

in the county, new residential development has been rapidly increasing

in recent years. The county approved 28 new subdivisions in 2003 and

2004, and is reviewing applications for residential development on more

than 650 acres.

Several factors are combining in Baker County to set the stage for the

sort of development that other area counties have seen for years.

For one, large tracts of land are relatively inexpensive. "We're not

really trying to bring growth, it's coming our way because of our

proximity to Jacksonville," Barber said. "We're sort of the next

frontier, you could say."

Changes in timber economics also play a role, Teeple said.

"That's related to South American pulp production and a variety of other

things, but those timber producers in Northeast Florida are probably

looking for an exit strategy," he said.

Developers are looking more often to Baker County because of the growing

scarcity of land closer to Jacksonville. Baker County can expect more

development, according to those familiar with real estate trends.

"They're not making any more land [in Jacksonville]," said Ray

Rodriguez, owner of the Real Estate Strategy Center of North Florida

Inc., an independent real estate consulting firm, who said low interest

rates also make buying attractive these days. "Developers are interested

in what they call land banking for the long term."

Adar's representative said Baker County's current plan and attitude

toward growth management also make it more appealing.

"Their knowledge that growth is coming to them, and their willingness to

work with development in accommodating that growth from a diligent and

well-planned perspective, we like that attitude," Bailine said.

The county is marketing its two industrial parks, the 251-acre

Enterprise East and the 81-acre Enterprise West.

"The county wants to focus on new job creation," said Barber, citing the

benefits to the community of bringing in new operations such as

Wal-Mart's Food Distribution Center, which opened in April 2002. The

center has expanded its workforce to 950.

Barber said the Wal-Mart center paid more than 10 percent of the

county's ad valorem taxes in 2004.

"We don't want to be a bedroom community of Jacksonville," she said.

"Rooftops, they don't pay for themselves."

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