Wildlight Marketplace Baptist Health and the Diocese of St. Augustine propose developments at Wildlight

April 4, 2019

Nassau County is reviewing plans for two projects near Wildlight – the Wildlight Marketplace and the Baptist Medical Village.

And the St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing an application for the St. Clare Early Learning Center by the Diocese of St. Augustine in Wildlight.

The marketplace and Baptist projects are proposed south of Florida A1A from Rayonier Inc.’s Wildlight residential, business and retail center at northeast A1A and Interstate 95.

Jacksonville-based Sleiman Enterprises proposes the retail Wildlight Marketplace at southwest Florida A1A and William Burgess Boulevard. The property is part of the Wildlight property.

Plans show an almost 50,000-square-foot anchor retail store with an adjoining 12,000-square-foot commercial building that can be expanded.

Two 8,400-square-foot retail buildings are near the main building and two more structures about that size are shown on the property.

A 2.96-acre outparcel fronts Florida A1A.

West of Wildlight Marketplace and separated by Harper Chapel Road, Baptist Health Properties Inc. proposes a medical village on property it owns.

England-Thims & Miller Inc. is the engineering consultant.

Plans show the 24.6-acre site at southwest Florida A1A and Harper Chapel Road comprises an emergency center, a helipad, and a first-phase 30,000-square-foot retail-office building.

Future development includes retail, office, medical and hotel uses.

A development schedule shows a 40,000-square-foot shopping center, two 30,000-square-foot medical clinics, a 4,000-square-foot coffee and doughnut shop and a 125-room hotel.

Plans for the diocese’s early learning center, for 170 children from 6 weeks to 4 years old, show the project north of Florida A1A within Wildlight.

The water management district is reviewing plans for a 16,700-square-foot building on 27.9 acres as well as diagrams for a future school building and sports fields.

Connelly & Wicker Inc. is the civil engineer. Kasper Architects + Associates is the architect.

The diocese said the St. Clare Early Learning Center will break ground in August. School officials expect to draw families from Yulee, Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island and South Georgia, including Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, which is part of the Diocese of Savannah. 

According to the diocese, Deacon Scott Conway eventually would like to build a K-8 school and a high school near St. Clare.

“Wildlight was the perfect opportunity to strengthen our community in one of the fastest-growing areas of Northeast Florida, said Bishop Felipe Estevez in a statement from the diocese.

The above article originally appeared in the Jacksonville Daily Record.