A look at Oakleaf Town Center
Although a few major big box stores have already opened, Oakleaf Town Center is not scheduled to be fully operational unil April 2008.
Published December 28, 2007 in Development
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Developed by The Sembler Company, Oakleaf Town Center will provide over 850,000 square feet of retail space for Westside and Clay County residents looking to avoid Blanding Blvd. Oakleaf Town Center consists of two major components
Component 1: Power Center
The Power Center is a strip of retail space consisting of national big box anchors. Oakleaf's power center is the home to Home Depot, Kohls, Circuit City, Linens 'n Things, Ross Dress For Less, Ulta Connection, Super Target, Office Max, AC Moore, and PetsMart.
Component 2: Lifestyle Center
Like many modern retail centers, the open air lifestyle center concept has been included at Oakleaf. This pedestrian friendly collection of specialty retail shops and restaurants is separated from the Power Center by a huge asphalt parking lot. The Lifestyle Center is the first part of the mega development that visitors pass through from Argyle Forest Blvd. When complete, tenants will include a Panera Bread and Starbucks and will be surrounded by a number of outparcels that will house restaurants, banks, and gas stations.
For more information on Oakleaf visit: www.sembler.com
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gatorback
December 28, 2007, 04:53:36 AMWhere is the closest movie theater? Which bus stops here?
Jason
December 28, 2007, 08:34:39 AMThe nearest theatre would be the AMC 24 at the OP Mall.
copperfiend
December 28, 2007, 01:02:32 PMI went to the OLTC for the first time this past weekend. It is a perfect development for the area and should be a great addition for the people of Oak Leaf and Argyle. It is pretty standard stores for a development of this size but anything that keeps people from driving on Blanding Blvd is a plus. And is this the first Panda Express in Jax?
dowtown-entrepreneur
December 28, 2007, 06:53:07 PMI think there is a Panda Express in the area malls.
This is a smart development for this community. OakLeaf is a master-planned community done by the Hutson company. It has a total of about 3,000 to 4,000 households comprised of single-family homes, condos and townhomes. Most of the residents have lived there within the past 3 years and have waited for this development to be completed. The community isn't close to being completely built-out and has plans for more homes and business development in the "better-housing-market" future.
This master-planned community is remniscient of the Nocatee, Julington Creek, Fleming Island Plantation and Bartram Park developments. Each one of these have, or will have, "town centers" as well as homes and condos. Some may call it urban sprawl others may call progress. They have an advantage over downtown Jacksonville in that they all started with trees and were built during the housing boom. They just needed someone with a checkbook and a little vision.
DemocraticNole
December 29, 2007, 06:36:31 PMAs one who lives exactly one mile from the Oakleaf TownCenter, I can say it has been a nice addition. It is pleasant to be able to do some shopping and dining without going to Blanding and Wells Rd. I often walk down there, although I don't think many people do. I will say that they should have widened Argyle from 4 to 6 lanes from Old Middleburg to SR 23. I don't think it will take long before traffic on that stretch becomes unbareable.
gatorback
December 29, 2007, 11:44:31 PMHow's the Starbucks there? Did you buy the new coffee at Starbucks? It's 24.00 a lb! Dian said it's our 1st effort to move up market! The box must be a huge part of that cost. It's designer in nature.
second_pancake
December 31, 2007, 11:01:57 AMI agree with keeping as many people as possible off of Blanding. That place is a mad-house and I truly have no idea how anyone can live down there and not try and slit their wrists every waking hour.
While I don't agree with the urban-sprawl mentality and I don't think there's much, if any, creativity in these cookie-cutter town-centers (btw, there's one or more of these in every city in America now including Murfreesboro, TN), it would be a welcome answer to all the traffic issues to actually be able to create a work-live-play environment. And who knows, maybe each of these "towns" can split from Jacksonville entirely and have their own city and city council. Now, THAT would be interesting.
gatorback
December 31, 2007, 10:02:48 PMSounds expensive but I'm listening. Let's see, we'd have at least 7 new municipalities? How would you pay for all that?
thelakelander
December 31, 2007, 10:32:03 PMI don't think these strip shopping centers will ever become actual urban cores. The suburban layout of the surrounding areas, the big box components and surface parking lots kill any true chance of them forming enough compact connectivity without tearing them down and completely rebuilding them. Nevertheless, they are still an improvement from their suburban counterparts developed a few decades ago.
gatorback
December 31, 2007, 11:12:01 PMI'm thinking the one good thing developments do is relieve congestion which is an activity that is truly needed.
thelakelander
December 31, 2007, 11:25:34 PMIn the short term. Depending on how growth is regulated in the future, it could become a larger negative by bringing Blanding type congestion to the Oakleaf area.
gatorback
January 01, 2008, 05:50:17 AMSo sprawl isn't so much growth as it is cancer in Jacksonville?
thelakelander
January 01, 2008, 08:02:15 AMAt this point, most of the sprawl locally is still a cancer because we haven't successfully developed the infrastructure to support it or changed the zoning to heavily regulate it. However, we aren't alone in our struggles for good growth management. Most US metropolitan areas are in the same boat.
gatorback
January 01, 2008, 11:55:16 AMIf it wasn't for sprawl we would have never left the garden of eve; however, with all that sinning going on you can't blame us. How do you develop the infrastructure to support the sprawl given the taxpayers don't want what's needed to facilitated. They don't want busses, BRT, LRT or increased fuel prices. They probably just want more bowling alleys.
thelakelander
January 01, 2008, 12:43:50 PMNo building in areas that can't support it would be a good place to start. Impact fees would be another thing that could help expand infrastructure. We're one of the few places in Florida that does not have impact fees.
gatorback
January 01, 2008, 01:00:31 PMOh, like that license plate thingamabobby few years back. I completely support taxing new residences. After all they should pay for our lack of planning right?
thelakelander
January 01, 2008, 04:34:04 PMThey (and existing residents who choose to move to remote spots) should pay if they want to live in areas that can't support additional development.
dowtown-entrepreneur
January 02, 2008, 03:12:43 PMAs far as OakLeaf splitting into its own 'jurisdiction', there has been plenty of talk in that direction. The residents of OakLeaf have contemplated breaking away from the city of Orange Park and creating their own government. They are not happy with the city of Orange Park's handling of traffic, schools, etc. And OakLeaf will have a complete school system, i.e. K-12, very shortly. If I'm not mistaken they already have a K-8 school. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2-3 years.
gatorback
January 02, 2008, 03:18:29 PMCan residents do that?
thelakelander
January 02, 2008, 03:19:03 PMI don't think Oakleaf was ever a part of the City of Orange Park. The City of Orange Park's boundaries are east of Blanding.
second_pancake
January 02, 2008, 03:57:11 PMOr...they should be self-sufficient! Amen! But, that of course, would mean the federal government getting involved as it is against the law for a person to set up a permanent dwelling where there is no underground sewer or wastewater system.
thelakelander
January 02, 2008, 04:08:21 PMThe developers who are building the new developments should be funding infrastructure upgrades to reach their property, as well as putting money into a pot to support future school and road expansions that will be needed from continued growth in their immediate area. Ideally, if this is done, the new residents will pay their fair share because the developers will just pass the costs down to them in the sale of their new homes.
second_pancake
January 02, 2008, 04:48:52 PMYeah, lake, but that would mean the developers would now have long-term responsibility, and who wants that when you can just destroy, build, and bolt?
thelakelander
January 02, 2008, 04:51:02 PMIf the City and community really wants to better manage the growth, then somethings that aren't popular with the development community will have to be put in place.
Lunican
January 02, 2008, 08:07:29 PMDo things that aren't popular with the development community? Isn't the city council president Daniel Davis also the Director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association?
In most places this would be considered a conflict of interest, but in Jacksonville it is an honorable addition to your resume for city council.
tufsu1
January 02, 2008, 08:10:45 PMThe developers who are building the new developments should be funding infrastructure upgrades to reach their property, as well as putting money into a pot to support future school and road expansions that will be needed from continued growth in their immediate area. Ideally, if this is done, the new residents will pay their fair share because the developers will just pass the costs down to them in the sale of their new homes.
its called concurrency....and believe it or not, its the law in Florida
thelakelander
January 02, 2008, 08:32:20 PMYes, I'm familiar with concurrency, we deal with it on a daily basis on many of the projects in the office. However, since many of the new developments still end up costing the community more than what they bring in, the current system is a failure. I don't know the what the final solution should be, but whether its upping fees, restricting development in certain areas, improving mass transit or increasing the density in places with adaquate infrastructure, something new needs to be done.
tufsu1
January 03, 2008, 07:57:05 AMone of the biggest misconceptions about concurrency is that development doesn't pay its fair share....in fact, large developments in many parts of the state pay more than their fair share....its many of the small projects that get by without having to pay at all.
also important to note is that cities have set up concurrency exception areas to encourage infill development....Jacksonville has done this downtown.
thelakelander
January 03, 2008, 08:25:26 AMTrue. Unfortunately, when its all added up, there are several more smaller developments going up statewide, in areas with limited to no capacity to support them, then the large developments. As you already know, this has resulted in some municipalities and counties having impact fees, in addition to concurrency.
In some cities (I can't think of any in Florida), they have set up tax abatement programs to encourage infill development in older areas with infrastructure already in place as well, with great success.
It would be nice to have this downtown concurrency exception extended to the inner core neighborhoods also, especially in the Northside. At one point, most of these areas had three times as much density, so a vast amount of infill could happen fairly easily because the infrastructure is already in place.
tufsu1
January 03, 2008, 01:25:50 PMImpacte fees pay for long-term future issues...concurrency deals with existing issues
thelakelander
January 03, 2008, 01:59:38 PMBut they both go hand in hand in planning.
gatorback
January 03, 2008, 08:25:43 PMOr bad planning lake. I live in a tax supported TOD. I love it here. I think the domain will make it; however, the city gave millions and the state gave millions to do this project to my betterment. In long run is it the best thing? I guess if you want super fast growth it's the only way sometimes.
thelakelander
January 03, 2008, 08:38:03 PMIs there a commuter rail station located at the Domain?
gatorback
January 03, 2008, 09:14:19 PMCapital Metro still hasn't finalized all the locations for the Red Line, the first train going on line. I was told that the commuter rail will stop here at the domain. The press is saying the Red Line station will be located behind IBM and Tivoli building. That there will be shuttle busses running between the domain and that station. It's .75 miles to where I think the stations is going to be. I saw a truck out there the other day doing some scouting I guess. It's a done deal for the Red Line station there. In the future there will be other services that do stop at the domain I'm sure. The freight rail line runs right thru the domain basically...it's got to be a no brainier to stop the other lines right here.
thelakelander
January 03, 2008, 10:28:55 PMI just took a look at Google Earth. The Union Pacific tracks that run through the Domain are planned to serve as apart of a "regional" commuter rail line from Austin to San Antonio.
you can learn more about this second rail line here: http://asarail.org/
gatorback
January 03, 2008, 10:45:11 PMThe image is a little small...but there you go. Notice the Domain is sandwitched between the two line. The line to the right will be the Red Line. Google says that the grey blob is IBM, not true any more, but it's really the Domain. IBM has its new buildings closer to the Red Line.
gatorback
January 06, 2008, 01:47:07 PMHere’s my guess at the location of the Red Line Station with shuttles to the Domain. Contractors are out, where I put the 2 black squares on the 2nd. image below, building what could be the transfer location to BRT, feeder buses, and Express buses. Funny, the Pickle center is right next door. Remember from an earlier post, the Pickle is putting in a Hydrogen Fuel stations and that's where CapitalMetro will fill it Hydrogen Powered Busses. You can see that straight shot to the location behind the IBM buildings where the media said the station was going. It would be a short walk to mall, basically crossing over the lot. They may even bring the shuttle right to the Domain itself. I could see dillos, or shuttles, running down Centry Oaks Terrace the main drag and to then right to the Red Line station. Can't wait! I would go crazy if the Dillos where Hydrogen powered! That would be Austin to have Hydrogen powered shuttles servicing the Domain.
dowtown-entrepreneur
January 07, 2008, 11:45:04 AMDevelopments like OakLeaf Plantation, Julington Creek and Nocatee do incur the costs of the new infrastructure. The city/county creates a 2-part 30-year bond to fund the CDD (Community Development District). The first part of the bond is paid by the developer. The second part of the bond is paid by the residents of the CDD. It is added to their mortgage bill. The total can range from an extra $200 a month to $400 a month for eah resident.
Dapperdan
July 10, 2009, 04:31:22 PMI know this is an old thread, but how has the town center panned out? I hear there are talks of a movie theatre. I have been there a few times and the traffic never seemed that bad. I think it is tucked back far enough from everyone else so that it really only services its neighborhood.