With the numerous projects already announced in the past couple of years along Gate Pkwy., you’d think they would run out of space on the already-busy road.
As it turns out, the next giant project will involve making the winding parkway even longer.
This past Tuesday, plans were submitted by Sawmill Timber LLC – a Skinner family company – to the St. Johns River Water Management District for the development of a giant chunk of land the family still owns from their days in the dairy business.
The plans show a mix of retail, residential, and unidentified buildings covering hundreds of acres of undeveloped space along I-295 and Butler – diagonal to the St. Johns Town Center, which was once undeveloped Skinner-owned land as well.
The retail portion shows three “major anchors” as well as a small shopping strip and several outparcel lots. The residential portion appears to be made up of several single-family home developments. There would also be a portion of wetlands conserved and at least one large retention pond.
Most interestingly, the project – which will presumably have to be completed in several phases – will result in the ability for traffic to flow straight through from Gate Pkwy. to Kernan Blvd., and vice versa.
It’ll eliminate two dead-ends that currently exist: the one at Kernan Blvd.’s southernmost point where it intersects with Butler, and the one where Gate Pkwy. and Baymeadows Rd. dead-end into each other. And it will create somewhat of a loop around the I-295/Butler interchange, made up by portions of Gate Pkwy., Kernan Blvd., Town Center Pkwy., and UNF’s campus.
The plan will likely take several years – and phases – to be fully realized. But when it does, it’ll bring even more activity to a part of town that’s already red-hot with new development.
