Taylor Morrison is betting $60 million that northwest St. Johns County still has room for a large-scale age-restricted community, acquiring 437 acres where it plans to build roughly 900 homes for buyers 55 and older.
The national homebuilder's new community, Esplanade at Pinewalk, will offer paired villas in three lot sizes starting in the low $400,000s, with sales expected to begin in late summer 2027, according to a Jacksonville Daily Record report published Aug. 24.
Construction plans are already approved. The project will be built in phases.
"There's not many opportunities in the market where you can plant a 900-lot community that has infrastructure in place and is in an infill environment with entitlements," said Jeremy Hampson, Taylor Morrison's Jacksonville division president.
Why this site
Hampson said the land already carried development approvals requiring age-restricted use, and the previous owner had completed infrastructure work that benefited St. Johns County. Longleaf Pine Parkway and Greenbriar Road are being widened near the property, which Taylor Morrison views as an infill opportunity in an increasingly built-out area.
The property was under contract for nine months to a year before Hampson joined the company in May. He previously served as Florida division president for Freehold Capital Management and spent nearly 11 years with Toll Brothers in Jacksonville, including in land acquisition.
Esplanade brand expansion
Taylor Morrison has spent several years working to establish its Esplanade resort-lifestyle brand in the Jacksonville region. CEO Sheryl Palmer said during a February earnings call, as reported by HousingWire, that the brand "drives superior home prices and gross margins that consistently exceed the balance of our business."
The brand operates in roughly 12 states, with concentrations in Arizona, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Nevada. The St. Johns County project is age-restricted specifically because the site's existing development approvals require it, not solely by Taylor Morrison's choice.
Watching the First Coast Expressway corridor
Hampson said the company is monitoring how growth moves south from SilverLeaf and is looking for opportunities to support additional Esplanade communities in that corridor, though no specific future acquisitions are committed.
The First Coast Expressway, a toll road that will ultimately run about 46 miles through Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties connecting Interstate 10 in West Jacksonville to Interstate 95 in St. Johns County, is still under construction. A new 18-mile Clay County segment opened in June. The final St. Johns County segments, including the County Road 2209-to-Interstate 95 segment, are scheduled for completion in late 2030 or early 2031. Taylor Morrison expects housing near the expressway to be followed by commercial development, health care and other services.
Hampson characterized the "halfback" migration pattern, in which retirees who initially move from the Northeast to South Florida eventually relocate northward toward Jacksonville, as a potential driver of 55-plus demand in the market.
What's next
Taylor Morrison also operates Sabal Terrace, nearing closeout in northwest Jacksonville, and Coopers Meadow, a single-family community with about two years of development remaining. In Nassau County, its Headwaters at Lofton Creek community lists homes from the mid-$400,000s, with prices varying by plan and lot. Some floor plans exceed 4,000 square feet.
The next public milestone for Esplanade at Pinewalk is the late summer 2027 sales opening.
