Heckscher Drive Neighborhood

Northward bound

Aug 08, 1999

Sunday, August 8, 1999
Story last updated at 12:13 a.m. on Sunday, August 8, 1999

?  George Ortega, who works for R.A. Purvis Inc., nails together framing for a new home at the Lydia Estates subdivision on Dunn Avenue (near I-295). R.A. Purvis Inc. is a contractor for A.F. Alan Custom Homes, the builder who is developing the subdivision. Large homes like these (shown in background) are springing up on in Northwest Jacksonville.
-- Tara McParland/Staff

Northward bound

By Earl Daniels
Times-Union business writer

Ten years ago, Alan Fixel wanted to develop homes on Jacksonville's Northside, but he said he could not get the help he needed from banks to buy the land and build on it.

''All the banks were very leery about lending to me. They did not see a middle-class neighborhood market in that area,'' said Fixel, owner and president of A.F. Alan Custom Homes Inc. of Jacksonville. ''Most of the new homes that were being built in that area were in the range of $50,000-$60,000.''

But that has changed.

All over the Northside - from Dunn Avenue across a wide swath north and east to the Intracoastal Waterway - more expensive homes are being built. They are emerging in existing communities, on large rural lots and in new subdivisions.

While most of Northeast Florida's residential development is taking place south and east of downtown Jacksonville, the Northside activity is offering a wide range of home-buying opportunities in an area that has long been off the radar of the residential real estate industry.

''This is the sleeping giant and it's awakening,'' said Bonnie Seicker, a real estate agent at Century 21 Dames Point Realty Inc.

The Lydia Estates subdivision on Dunn Avenue (near I-295) is being developed by A.F. Alan Custom Homes. Large homes like these (shown in background) are springing up in Northwest Jacksonville and fueling a housing boom there.
-- Tara McParland/Staff

The new home construction has been helped by the Dames Point bridge, which serves as a connector between the Regency Square area and the Northside. It also has received a boost from people looking for an easy commute, a relatively rural setting and good land values. In addition, jobs, city services and businesses are making their way to that area.

Statistics from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors make the case: The largest average price increase for new homes in the first quarter of 1999 was in North Jacksonville.

The average price of a new home on the Northside - $118,600 - represented a 22 percent increase from the average price during the first quarter of 1998. And it continues a trend. For all of 1998, the average new home price in North Jacksonville increased 30 percent from the year before.

''People have now suddenly awakened to find that the best deals are on the Northside,'' said Don Taylor, vice president and branch manager of Watson Realty Corporation's office on Dunn Avenue.

''It is a very large and diverse area,'' said Taylor, who is also president of the North Council of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. ''It is a great area of the city and it is just being discovered and there are more jobs locating there.''

An eye to the future

While Fixel was once one of the few in his pursuit to build houses on the Northside, he is now in competition with large developers.

''There is a need for homes on the Northside and it has been a good steady market,'' said Fixel, His company is developing houses in several North Jacksonville communities with prices ranging from $125,000 to $270,000.

''Now what you have seen are the large developers such as Pulte and Fortress come in and start to develop,'' he said. ''They have deep pockets to start their own developments.''

Fixel has built homes in Jacksonville since 1989, with most of his work on the Southside. But that too has changed. About 95 percent of the homes Fixel's company builds now are located to the north.

''Most builders are realizing that there is a bigger market on the Northside than they had realized,'' said Mitch Montgomery, owner of Montgomery Land Co. of Jacksonville, which is developing a 265-unit community, Cedar North, on Harts Road near Dunn Avenue and Interstate 95. The homes are expected to sell for $100,000-$150,000.

''That average price has increased because builders have found that people will pay for a larger home on the Northside,'' said Montgomery, who is the upcoming president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association.

''There is real quality land in that area that has allowed developers to go in there and do some real nice houses and in a range where people can afford them,'' he said.

Just south of Montgomery's development, Jacksonville-based Fortress Homes and Communities of Florida Inc. began selling homes in Newport in July 1998. Company officials expected to sell about 2-3 homes a month. But instead, they have sold about 5-6 homes a month in the 143-lot subdivision.

''We were taken by surprise by the interest,'' said Michael Kruszynski, director of marketing for Fortress Homes. Kruszynski said the company is considering building homes in three other parts of North Jacksonville.

Developers are paying anywhere from $17,000 to $22,000 an acre for land in North Jacksonville, which is comparable with prices in other parts of Jacksonville, according to Ray Rodriguez, owner-president of the Real Estate Strategy Center of North Florida Inc. of Jacksonville.

''The values have always been there; developers are just realizing it,'' Rodriguez said.

''The Northside market has reached the same plateau as other land in the area, which is a sign that it is growing.''

Why they are coming north

The reasons for the North Jacksonville housing turnaround are numerous, according to professionals in the real estate industry.

Here's a quick rundown:

?•Quality-of-life issues. Larger lot sizes, reasonable lot prices, access to nature - such as rivers, creeks, inlets, canals and woodlands - adds character and value to homes.

?•New housing stock in a familiar area. Newer Northside housing appeals to Northside residents who can afford to move up, said Queen ''Vickie'' Seymore, owner of V&G Realty, which represents A.F. Alan Custom Homes.

''They love the Northside, they have lived on the Northside and now they can afford a bigger home and there are new houses being built on the Northside that they can move into,'' Seymore said.

Some of the neighborhoods allow residents to stay in the neighborhoods near where they bought their first house.

''For the people who could afford a more expensive home, they would have had to move to the other side of town, such as Southside, Mandarin, Orange Park or the Westside,'' Fixel said.

?•Faster commuting times to downtown and other areas. ''Most people don't realize that Dunn Avenue is closer to downtown than Baymeadows Road,'' said Frazier Dughie, a builder account manager for the national builder division of Countrywide Home Loans.

''It is attractive because of U.S. 17, [Interstate] 295 and I-95,'' Rodriguez said.

''The people who are buying these homes are people who work in the area or in Southeast Georgia,'' he said. ''It is a great place to live because you have everything you need to commute to the major industrial and commercial areas.''

?•Expansion of city water and sewer lines into the area. ''Several years ago you would have to do a septic tank because there were not city water and sewer services to many parts of the Northside,'' Dughie said.

''To build a house you have to drink and flush and that had slowed down growth in North Jacksonville,'' he said.

?•Construction of the Main Street Florida mall off I-95 and the renovation of the Gateway Shopping Center. ''Just as Southside will feed off the area that Tinseltown is located in, North Jacksonville will benefit from the mall when it opens,'' Dughie said. ''And as the Gateway Shopping Center goes through a rebirth, you will see even more homes.''

?•The presence of First Coast High School. A relatively modern school that opened in 1990, it is helping to attract new homeowners, Montgomery said. The school is located about four miles east of I-95, just north of Oceanway.

?•The elimination of industrial odors - paper mills and other plants - that were once common.

''If I cannot smell it, it smells nice,'' Dughie said.

?© The Florida Times-Union 1999