2017 is shaping up to be a great one for Jacksonville…

So far, this year we've made a lot of "Top 10" lists. Right now, we are currently ranked #5 out of 50 for the top cities among the nation's largest housing markets. According to a Forbes report, we were ranked #2 in the nation and #1 in the state when it comes to investment in the housing market in 2017.

This was followed by the announcement that Jacksonville also secured the #7 spot for the Best Cities for Job Seekers. Indeed, the state of Florida was dominating that list, providing three of the top ten winners.

We've seen pension reform finally pass, the Jacksonville Suns become the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and soon we're finally going to see some forward momentum with a major overhaul and development of the Shipyards.

3 Proposals, 1 Winner

While we talked a bit about plans to develop the Shipyards in earlier editions of our newsletter, there were ultimately three development groups who were bidding to win the master developer spot. The winner, Iguana Investments Florida, was created by Jaguars' owner, Shad Khan, and this was his second pitch for the proposed development.

His winning vision will involve over $500 million in private investment, and once the development is completed will yield 300-500 condominiums, 300-500 apartments, 300,000-500,000 square feet of office space, 150,000-250,000 of stores and restaurants, and 200-500 hotel rooms. This is in addition to the marina's 250-450 boat slips with a potential final design boost to 525.

But getting there is going to take a lot of work and transformation. This includes extending the Riverwalk, relocating Metropolitan Park, an upgrade to both Bay Street and A. Philip Randolph Blvd. There will also be a Hogan Creek Greenway created for the waterway as it flows towards the St. Johns.

Iguana Investments sealed the deal by scoring 85.5 of 100 points, as compared to 66.8 for first competitor Presidium and 52 for third runner up, Wess Holdings.

In terms of potential jobs, entertainment and overall economic impact, things are looking good for the Metropolitan region.

Other Housing News…

Right now, our greatest regional struggle is housing inventory. Shortages are causing prices to increase with demand far exceeding supply. There has been a recent increase in new home permits. According to Northeast Florida Builder's Associaiton, 941 permits were issued in the 4-county area in the month of March. This is the most we've seen in any month since 2007 and is up 300 permits from March of 2016.

1^st quarter permits totaled 2,230, the best figures we've seen since 2007. By comparison, in 2011, there were only 644 permits issued in the quad-county area in the first quarter – less than we saw last month alone!

Essentially, this means that now is a wonderful time to sell and introduce new inventory to the market! And if you're a renter, it's not too bad, either, because despite the lessened inventory, year-to-date rents have gone down a few dollars since our last digest.