ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A proposal to bring nearly 300 affordable apartments to Northwest St. Johns County is set to go to a vote before the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.
The Preserve at Wards Creek is a multifamily apartment community proposed along County Road 16 near Silverleaf Parkway, not far from Wards Creek Elementary.
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The apartments would be built behind a U-Haul site that is currently under construction. The proposed site is currently being used as a bull pasture.
The developer said it is facing some pushback from residents over traffic but said they have a plan to address that which includes widening a road.
Traffic is already a big concern for residents in St. Johns County. Some call it a nightmare.
“Sometimes it’s really bad trying to get places but if you time it, it’s OK,” Nancy Scranton said.
A lack of affordable housing is also an issue.
“I think there’s a need for [affordable housing] everywhere but unfortunately sometimes people don’t want it near them,” Scranton said.
“I guess it’s necessary for the development of this county, but it just depends on how the infrastructure is going to change,” said Des Hooks.
A proposal is on the table to address both issues.
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National affordable housing developer Dominium is behind the project and is planning to build the Preserve at Wards Creek Apartments at the south end of Silverleaf Parkway.
“Affordable housing is an infrastructure issue as well. And our project is, you know, a 30-year minimum affordability period. It would be rented to workforce housing, residents who essentially are making between $40,000 to $60,000 a year within the county, and we just see that as an extreme resource that they hopefully will approve because of that need,” Dominium Senior Development Associate Katessa Archer said.
If approved by the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners, the project would bring 288 homes available to the area with affordable rents. All of the units will be reserved for those earning 60% or less of the area median income, with rents ranging from $1,069 to $1,362, depending on bedroom size.
“Within St. Johns County, and specifically the northwest side of St. Johns County, where we’re proposing, that’s between an $800 to over $1,700 difference between market rate rents in this community,” Archer said.
The developer has also secured the Florida Department of Transportation’s approval for a $7 million traffic improvement plan.
Dominium would fund the traffic plan which includes adding more through lanes on State Road 16 and Silverleaf Parkway to handle more traffic during regular and peak hours. It also includes adding a left-turn lane on State Road 16 and a receiving lane to help accommodate future growth.
Archer asks residents with concerns about traffic to remember this: “When you’re getting your nails done, when you’re getting your hair done, when you’re getting served at a restaurant, or your child is coming home from school one day, those are the people we are housing. And those people right now are incredibly overburdened with their housing costs within this county, and those people, their quality of their life matters too.”
The road-widening project on CR-16 is expected to be completed in late 2027 and the apartments would be ready for residents in late 2028.