Vicar’s Landing retirement community announced the project for a new location at Oak Bridge in Sawgrass last February, with tentative plans for a groundbreaking in 2021. According to chief operations officer, Dale Pirkle, those plans haven’t been disrupted due to the pandemic.
Actually, the project is making headway and has formally introduced a full development team to continue in their “due diligence” in the expansion.
“The coronavirus has just made it so we have a lot of zoom meetings,” Pirkle said. “All-in-all we are finding a way to work together and keep it moving forward.”
The expansion of Vicar’s Landing is a result of the overwhelmingly high demand the community is currently experiencing.
“There is a high level of interest in the community,” Pirkle said. “We've got a wait list at Vicar’s Landing of 280 people. We don't turn that many units in a year. The max is about 25-30 units a year. Even without marketing, there is a lot of interest in what we are doing.”
Pirkle said Vicar’s has secured an engineering firm, CPA for financial feasibility, marketing team, architect firm and contractor to begin “going vertical” in 2021.
The new Vicar’s Landing location at Oakbridge is intended to “compliment” the current Vicar’s Landing in design and amenities. Pirkle said that while the expansion won’t be an exact replica, the new location is intended to adhere to the aesthetic of Ponte Vedra, with 178 independent homes and 60 assisted living and memory care apartments.
In addition to the Vicar’s Landing Oak Bridge units, there will be significant renovations made to the golf course, new pickleball courts, tennis court renovation and updates to 3 Palms Grille. The combined projects are estimated to exceed $130 million invested in the Ponte Vedra Beach community and is said to create approximately 100 new jobs in the area.
