Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Florida Times-Union
October 20, 2007
Development could double Kingsland's size
By JILL HELTON,
Times-Union Correspondent
KINGSLAND, Ga. - A 15,000-acre development in Kingsland will more than double the city's area and may bring the
most significant growth the city has seen in 20 years, city officials said Friday.
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Named The Villages at Kingsland, the site will include as many as 40,000 homes, 9.5 million square feet of commercial space and 13.5 million square feet of industrial space. It is located west of U.S. 17 and north of Georgia 40 and, developer Crescent Resources said, will be built in phases over the 20 years. "We hope this will be a great, great opportunity for this community and this region," Kingsland Mayor Kenneth Smith said.

Smith announced at a news conference Friday that Crescent Resources, a Charlotte, N.C.-based company, had purchased the land. The company currently is working with the city to annex and change the zoning on what is now mostly pine forest. "We are very enthusiastic about the future of Kingsland and this property," Crescent Resources spokesman Phil Hayes said in a prepared release. "By creating a comprehensive master plan for the entire property, we are able to plan for all the property's needs for decades to come." Some of those needs include a fire station, school and a municipal complex that will help the city serve the residents of The Villages at Kingsland. "All of those things have been taken into consideration," said Gwen Mungin, Kingsland city manager. Infrastructure, including water and sewer improvements, is already being addressed, Smith said. He also promised that current city residents would not be asked to pay for improvements to the site. The new development also increases the urgency of widening Georgia 40, which borders the property along the south and serves as Camden County's hurricane evacuation route. City and county officials have been lobbying the Georgia Department of Transportation for years to move forward with plans improve the road. "This causes us to step it up now. I've already warned [the Georgia DOT] that we squeak pretty loud in South Georgia," Smith said.

City officials are hoping for some spin-off growth as a result of The Villages at Kingsland. It also is expected to benefit many of the existing businesses in Camden County. "There will be other projects that will probably be coming in here because of this. Everybody is going to feel the effects of this," said Ken Kessler, Kingsland planning director. He said it is an ideal place for warehouses because of its proximity to the Jacksonville International Airport. Kessler said the first homes will be built around 2010 and will offer both affordable and upscale housing. The Villages at Kingsland could increase the city's population by 80,000 or 90,000 when built to capacity, Smith added. Crescent Resources, a land management and real estate development company, is a joint venture of Duke Energy and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund. Those companies are affiliated with LandMar, which is the developer of Osprey Cove, Winding River and the former paper mill site in St. Marys.

Villages at Kingsland Residential units: 40,000 Industrial space: 13.5 million square feet ommercial space: 9.5 million square feet Time to build: 20 years.

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tuonline/
stories/102007/geo_210112793.shtml.
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