Developers Acquire 1,300-Acre Site Zoned For 2,000-Unit Residential Community In St. Johns County

Just days after acquiring 3,300 acres for $85 million in Clay County, Fort Lauderdale-based BTI Partners closed on a $31 million deal to acquire approximately 1,300 acres in Northwest St. Johns County. The deal closed on Tuesday, December 27, and was done so in partnership with Westport Capital Partners. The seller was Jacksonville-based Helow Properties LTD. BTI Partners will build the infrastructure for the site to prepare it for homebuilders who need access to ready-to-build land, where over 2,000 single-family homes and attached villas will be built on the site located on Greenbriar Road, also known as County Road 210 West.

“We continue to expand our footprint in North Florida’s high-growth markets to help communities meet the growing demand for new housing,” said BTI Partners CEO Noah Breakstone. “We expect to commence construction of the site infrastructure in the coming months and prepare the site for home builders looking to build new residential communities in St. Johns in the next two to four years. 

The approximately 1,300 acres are part of a master-planned community called Villages at Town Center, which consists of about 2,170 acres owned by Helow Properties LTD. As a result of the transaction, BTI Partners holds the residential component of the master-planned community stretching between Veterans and Longleaf Pine parkways. The area between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean has seen a boom of residential and commercial developments such as Shoppes at Mill Creek Forest, Mill Creek Forest, Stillwater by Lennar, Shearwater by Toll Brothers, and many others.

BTI Partners already has a significant presence in Florida. Earlier this month, the company acquired approximately 3,300 acres of Governors Park for $85 million in Southern Clay County. The site can accommodate 4,000 single-family homes and 2,000 multi-family units. Further plans for the site in the Green Cove Springs area include 840,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, 700,000 square feet of office space, 400 hotel rooms, 2 million square feet of light industrial, and an 18-hole golf course.

BTI Partners is also active in Central Florida, where it is building the infrastructure of 1,400-acre Crossprairie and 1,200-acre Edgewater West. It also owns 1,100 acres in the Lake Wales area of Polk County and 538 acres in Osceola County’s South Lake Toho near Orlando. Both developments will include residential units and town centers.

While Florida has an adequate amount of rural land positioned for development to accommodate the continued demographic growth, the lack of infrastructure needed to support new residential communities is a big challenge for homebuilders. That process can take up to four years. BTI Partners’ strategy offers a solution to homebuilders. The South Florida company buys large tracts of land, builds the infrastructure, and gets it ready for home builders, which need to access ready-to-build land.