Homebuilding in Nocatee on the riseBack to News

Homebuilding in Nocatee on the Rise

Ponte Vedra community a leader in St. Johns County

Ponte Vedra, Fla. (May 11, 2011) - After experiencing the best sales year in its history in 2010, Nocatee continues to grow. St. Johns County Building Official Howard White says that building permits are on the rise in the popular Ponte Vedra community, a sign of steady progress.

"We're very excited around here these days. We're showing some indicators through our permitting that are giving us some glimmers of hope. These numbers make us think that the grip the recession has had on us is beginning to loosen a little bit," said White. "We remain cautiously optimistic."

Since the beginning of the year, White reports a modest increase in single-family homes in St. Johns County with 89 single-family homes permitted in January, 90 in February, 99 in March and 109 through April 28.

"There are a couple of hot spots in the county - one of them being the Nocatee area. It's at least notable that in 2010, between January and April 28, we had only permitted 15 single-family homes in that area," said White. "This year, in that same time period, we have permitted 47 homes in Nocatee so you see there are modest increases relative to where we are in this economy, but they're notable."

White attributes Nocatee's success to its location, which is close to metropolitan Jacksonville as well as historic St. Augustine on what he calls a "wonderful thoroughfare" off of U.S. 1. "This is stating the obvious. Nocatee is a well done, beautiful development of regional impact. The developer spent a tremendous amount of money in infrastructure. It's what good neighborhoods are all about - great streets,landscaping, good drainage and contractors that are building good products," he said.

Last year, there were 150 homes sold in Nocatee, which is now home to over 700 families. The community's resident base is a mix of young families, empty nesters and families with teenagers.

"I have to tell you that we feel like we're very blessed in St. Johns County for a lot of reasons. That is why people have chosen to live here and why builders are building here," added White "For two years, we have had the number one school system in the state. We also have a wonderful history in St. Augustine with utilization of the Intracoastal, wonderful beaches and parks and recreation. The quality of life is part of the reason that people are choosing Nocatee and North Florida."

Because of population increases, St. Johns County school officials added four new busroutes for the 2010-11 school year to accommodate growth in the Nocatee and Mill Creek Elementary School areas."

We have changed routes this year to accommodate new stops in Nocatee because the population is growing and because of the new neighborhoods that have opened," said Deborah Sapp, assistant director for school transportation at the St. Johns County School District. "If the growth continues, we'll have to look at Nocatee over the summer and make a final decision about what we might do next," she added.

Nocatee's newest neighborhood is Greenleaf Village, with four builders featuring single-family homes from the $170s. Nocatee offers six other neighborhoods with homes and condominiums priced from the mid $100s to more than $1 million. The PARC Group is currently designing two new communities in Town Center with home prices from the mid-$100s to the low $300's.

Nocatee's neighborhoods are surrounded by preserved lands with a trail system that connects the communities to parks, common areas, the Nocatee Splash Water Park and Town Center. The Greenway Trail System offers miles of multi-use pathways with over 1,200 feet of bridges. Last year, St. Johns County also opened walking trails within the Nocatee Preserve, 2,400 acres of environmentally sensitive lands along the Intracoastal Waterway that were donated to the County by the Nocatee developer in 2008.

Other Nocatee communities include Austin Park with homes priced from the mid-$200s; Kelly Pointe, a quaint neighborhood nestled to the north with homes by priced from the low $200s; Willowcove, a neighborhood featuring single-family homes priced from the low $300s; Coastal Oaks with luxury single-family estate homes, neo-traditional homes, townhomes and village homes priced from the low $300s; Riverwood, a resort-inspired Del Webb active adult community with single-family detached homes, condominiums and townhomes from the high $140s; and Tidewater, a condominium community with homes priced from the high $130s.

To learn more about the Nocatee lifestyle, call 1-800-Nocatee or visit www.Nocatee.com.