Approved Eastborough site plan.
Plans were recently announced for the development of the fourth multifamily apartment development since 2019 in a community being rebranded as San Marco East. Called Eastborough, the 226-unit apartment community will be developed along Philips Highway by EJF Capital LLC and Chance Partners LLC. Washington, D.C.-based EJF Capital LLC is a global alternative asset management firm focused on regulatory event-driven investment themes that include a strategy to invest in Opportunity Zones. The neighborhood the Eastborough project is destined for was designated as an Opportunity Zone in 2017. Jacksonville-based Chance Partners LLC is a real estate firm specializing in the acquisition and development of high quality, infill, multifamily and mixed-use communities. Since 2010, the company has developed or acquired more than $500 million of premier assets ranging from multifamily and student housing to hospitality and retail in strategic walkable locations throughout the Southeast. Since 2019, Chance has completed three multifamily infill developments in San Marco East, including the 196-unit The Exchange and 290-unit Barlow this summer and the 284-unit San Marco Promenade in 2019. Adjacent to San Marco Promenade, the $25 million Eastborough project is situated on a 6.62-acre parcel that will be developed to include two multifamily buildings and a future retail outparcel.
Eastborough construction site.
Modern development in the area, being branded as San Marco East now, dates back to the years immediately following the civil war when formerly enslaved from nearby plantations settled in the immediate vicinity. This led to the development of a historic rural Gullah Geechee community called Philips. After World War II, the Philips community was engulfed by suburban sprawl fueled by the 1960 opening of Jacksonville’s first enclosed shopping mall and the construction of Interstate 95. Long considered to be a distressed community, the area was certified as an Opportunity Zone under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This, combined with being adjacent to San Marco and the construction of a new I-95 interchange at Atlantic Boulevard, Kings Avenue and Philips Highway, led to The Jaxson recognizing Philips Highway as the Urban Core’s next hot spot in 2018. Eastborough is anticipated to be completed by 2023.
Rendering of the Eastborough multifamily development (Chance Partners)
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com