Nocatee vs. Palencia (Jacksonville, Orlando, St. Augustine: apartments, HOA fees, loft) - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

apollo77 · 02-12-2014, 07:00 PM

I'm considering a move to the Jacksonville area and have been trying to educate myself about the entire area. I'm looking for a generally suburban area, fairly quiet and removed from traffic and general "busyness". However, I'd like to have reasonable access to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and the beaches.

Based on this, I've been looking closely at the Nocatee and Palencia areas. They both seem to be pretty close to what I'm looking for. I've looked online at several of the communities in those areas, as well as the various builders.

As part of continuing my education, does anyone here have any opinions on pros/cons of these two locations? Also, do you have any opinion on the various builders in these areas? While I may end up preferring one location over the other, it is essential that the builder be trusted and deliver a quality home.

Thanks for any insight or advice!

Peter the Brit · 02-12-2014, 08:15 PM

Before we can give a valued response can you tell us your family set up whether you plan to work etc
Do you want a mixed community an over 55 community etc?

apollo77 · 02-12-2014, 09:00 PM

I'm 45 years and married with no kids. We both have extended family that will visit often and may possibly move to the area as well. I work from home, but often travel for work. Thus location is of prime consideration rather than commuting time or job locations.

I would prefer a mixed community where we can make friends and engage in community activities.

Thanks!

houseconfused · 02-13-2014, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apollo77

I'm considering a move to the Jacksonville area and have been trying to educate myself about the entire area. I'm looking for a generally suburban area, fairly quiet and removed from traffic and general "busyness". However, I'd like to have reasonable access to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and the beaches.

Based on this, I've been looking closely at the Nocatee and Palencia areas. They both seem to be pretty close to what I'm looking for. I've looked online at several of the communities in those areas, as well as the various builders.

As part of continuing my education, does anyone here have any opinions on pros/cons of these two locations? Also, do you have any opinion on the various builders in these areas? While I may end up preferring one location over the other, it is essential that the builder be trusted and deliver a quality home.

Thanks for any insight or advice!

My opinion:

Both are at about the same point EAST/WEST. Nocatee is further North than Palencia. Nocatee will put you closer to JAX by about 7 minutes and Palencia closer to St. Augustine.

As far as the beaches, it depends on where you are headed to. Palencia is a north/south drive no matter which beach you are headed to. From Nocatee you can head east to the beach. The closest is Micklers Landing. You can read plenty of posts about the beaches near the Nocatee area. Parking is very limited at Micklers, but the times we have gone we always found a spot.

Basically there are two ways to get to the beaches (which are off of A1A) from the neighborhoods you mentioned. 210/Nocatee Parkway which runs through Nocatee or the bridges in St. Augustine.

We didn't really look at Palencia when we were hunting, mostly because it was out of our budget.

Peter the Brit · 02-13-2014, 10:06 AM

If I can add to the above
Nocatee is growing fast and like Palencia attempts to be a self contained community
For me both are cookie cutter communities and if you like that you will be happy at either
Palencia is a little more expensive
Look carefully at the cdd expense as when added to the fairly high hoa fees the annual expenses in both communities can be quite high
Looking at your age and lack of kids St Augustine may also work for you with the added advantage of older housing and the old city itself. Lot going on and easy access to Jacksonville beaches and the Freeway

ilfaith · 02-13-2014, 11:09 AM

I think the big difference between Nocatee and Palencia is that Nocatee is really trying to be its own town, with various subdivisions within it, each with its own personality. Palencia, on the other hand, is more of a singular community.

I live in Palencia, and love it. There are a lot of families with kids of all ages, as well as plenty of empty nesters. Use of the pools and tennis are included in the HOA/CDD. Golf and other Palencia Club activities are extra. I think that Palencia is one of the prettiest planned communities around, with many mature trees, nice walking paths, including a boardwalk out to the Tolomato River. They really seemed to take the environment into consideration when building, as opposed to flattening everything and starting from scratch. Lennar Homes has just begun development of the Palencia North area, and an additional 500+ new homes are planned. There has been a bit of a booming new construction here in the last year throughout the community. There is a range of homes from loft apartments, to townhomes, to million dollar custom estate homes. Most homes are in the $300K-$600K range and the 2,500-4,000 square foot range. The downside, is that shopping can be a bit of a hike...although with all the new construction, a supermarket should come soon to the old Food Lion space at the entry to Palencia. It is a bit further south than Nocatee, but once you get off US1 in Nocatee, you can still have a 10-15 minute drive to your home, whereas in Palencia, you won't be more than five minutes from home.

ChrisWyse · 02-13-2014, 12:24 PM

[quote=apollo77;33448084]I'm considering a move to the Jacksonville area and have been trying to educate myself about the entire area. I'm looking for a generally suburban area, fairly quiet and removed from traffic and general "busyness". However, I'd like to have reasonable access to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and the beaches.

Based on this, I've been looking closely at the Nocatee and Palencia areas. They both seem to be pretty close to what I'm looking for. I've looked online at several of the communities in those areas, as well as the various builders.

As part of continuing my education, does anyone here have any opinions on pros/cons of these two locations? Also, do you have any opinion on the various builders in these areas? While I may end up preferring one location over the other, it is essential that the builder be trusted and deliver a quality home.

Thanks for any insight or advice![/quote
I live in the Nocatee area now from Orlando for over 35 years. It is a great growing area. St. Johns County is rated as one of the fastest growing areas. School system is excellent. I love it here. The builders are reputable - Dave Weakly, Lennar, are the main builders in Nocatee. I bought a resale home built by KB Builders, who has also been in the area for a long time.

apollo77 · 02-15-2014, 08:34 AM

Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions. I'm starting to believe that the Palencia area is more suited toward our lifestyle.
It seems ideally located with close proximity to St. Augustine, and the drive up to Jacksonville commercial areas does not seem bad at all. Where we are now in NY State, it is not unusual to drive 20-30 minutes to a mall or desired supermarket.
I also like the idea of a more singular community, rather than a "town of towns", that Nocatee appears to be.

My next objective will be to learn about various builders in the area. I've already inquired about this in another thread.
I've also been looking at the St. Johns County flood maps, as flooding is a concern as well. Ideally, I'd like to have the home built in a zone that is not considered likely to flood.

Thank you all again.