Beachwalk: St. Johns County’s newest upscale neighborhood

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A new upscale community is coming to St. Johns County.

Beachwalk will feature luxury homes, commercial retail and a 14-acre Crystal Lagoon located at the heart of the neighborhood. Once completed, residents will be invited to enjoy restaurants, a fitness center, tennis/basketball/volleyball courts, a playground, an 18-hole mini putt-putt and other amenities.

David Eisner, a 25-year veteran of home development and a sales executive at Americrest Luxury Homes, said Beachwalk will be an approximately 1,100 acre live/work/play community that won't require its residents to leave the property to enjoy basic conveniences and fulfill their needs. Amercrest is one of three builders currently developing properties on the Beachwalk property, which is located 1 mile east of I-95 (exit 329) on County Road 210. According to Americrest Sales Executive Sheryl Braxton, the company expects its properties to be completed within the next three to five years.

Beachwalk’s most substantial feature –  the Crystal Lagoon –  will utilize chlorine bursts to keep the 14-acre pool blue and clear, Eisner said. The lagoon invites paddle boarding, snorkeling, sailing and swimming –  and it will only be accessible to Beachwalk residents. There will also be a man-made beach surrounding the pool, a 20,000 square-foot clubhouse and large waterslides. Upon completion, the lagoon will be one of the the largest man-made basins in America.

"We feel it's going to be a true destination place," Eisner noted. "We're also a golf cart community so one side of our street has regular pedestrian sidewalks and the other has a 10-foot wide golf cart path. We do offer, with the purchase of a home, an option to buy one of our customized golf carts that we use to make the community more green – they're electric golf carts."

In addition to being cart-friendly, the upscale neighborhood will be a natural gas community, meaning residents can use gas appliances such as stoves and barbecues.

What makes Americrest unique, Eisner said, is the developer offers its clients “100 percent maintenance-free living” under a $377-per month homeowner association (HOA).

“We do everything from mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes, putting down the mulching, to central irrigation,” the sales executive said. “We do insect control outside the home; we paint the houses every fourth to fifth year. It includes roof repair, roof replacement as well as the homeowner’s insurance for your structure.”

Eisner added that a large commercial zone will be “directly outside the entrance to the community," featuring destination restaurants, a boutique hotel, a multi-screen movie theater, supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and coffee shops along Old County Road 210.

Americrest will be developing approximately 166 luxury villas – from seaside estates to single-family estate homes – running anywhere from 3,400 to 5,000 square feet. Most homes will start at about $500,000 to $600,000.

Additionally, Lennar plans to build small units toward the Beachwalk wetlands, and Vintage Estate Homes will be developing lots near the lagoon. The Beachwalk neighborhood is surrounded by wetlands, a 42-acre recreational lake for non-motorized craft/fishing and nearby hiking trails.

For more information on Beachwalk, visit www.beachwalkstjohnscounty.com

 

*Correction: The originally published version of this article stated that the Crystal Lagoon at Beachwalk is going to be the largest man-made water basin in the United States. That is actually incorrect, Paradise Park with Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas will be the largest at 25 acres upon completion.