Deerwood Country Club
Encyclopedia
Deerwood is the oldest gated community
and country club
in Jacksonville, Florida
. After it was established in the mid-1960s, it was the most exclusive residential area on the south side of Jacksonville and remains so today, with round-the-clock guard service at two entrances and high standards for membership and residency. The golf course hosted the Greater Jacksonville Open
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, forerunner of The Players Championship
, and was once the site of talks between President Gerald Ford
and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
in November, 1975.
for his marine supply business. Land to the south and east of the St. Johns River
was mostly pine trees, sand dunes or marsh; inhabited by wildlife. After 1900, the Skinner family owned close to 40000 acres (161.9 km²). That land was distributed to his six sons upon his death in the 1920s.
The oldest brother, Bright, and two other brothers moved to Tampa and received the land owned there.
The acreage nearest to the downtown went to Ben Skinner, who built the Skinner Dairy
and Farm, which was closed and developed as Southpoint in the late 1970s.
Chester and Richard were given the biggest tracts because the land was quite remote—miles from existing roads.
Richard Skinner, in turn, gave his children, Richard, Jr., Bryant, and Dottie his land, including the property on which Deerwood would be built.
. He then constructed the first home in the Deerwood development (his own) the following year. Brother Richard Jr. built his home there in 1963. In early 1962, Bryant began to outline and lay out a unique (for Jacksonville) and exclusive gated golf community that would become Deerwood. Within his rural Florida location he envisioned a neighborhood that incorporated curving roadways, panoramas, and distinctive homes on voluminous lots with large open common areas incorporating lakes, built around a country club that would feature golf, swimming and tennis. There was plenty of room for a riding stable and bridle paths.
The development was named Deerwood because of an abundance of wildlife: turkeys, wild hogs, raccoons, bears and lots of deer.
Bryant was confident that people would embrace it, but to get there from the established city required an eight mile (13 km) drive down U.S. 1 (Philips Highway), then east for three bumpy miles on a rough dirt road named San Clerc, which would eventually become Baymeadows Road
.
In 1960, the area south of Beach Boulevard, east of US 1, and extending ten miles (16 km) to the Intracoastal Waterway (approximately 50 square miles) was wilderness consisting of sand dunes and pine trees.
In order to solve the problem of their isolated location, the Skinners donated land and convinced the Jacksonville Expressway Authority
to build a road that would connect Beach Boulevard to Philips Highway. That thoroughfare, now called Southside Boulevard, opened Deerwood to development. In the 1970s, they gave land for Butler Boulevard, which opened more of their property, as did the extension of Baymeadows Road, east from Southside Blvd to a point where Florida State Road 9A was built. The Skinners also donated about 500 acres (2 km²) for the campus of what is now the University of North Florida
.
The school sold their 4.3 acres (17,401.5 m²) of frontage on Southside Boulevard in 1989 for over $1 million to help pay for capital improvements. The buyers used the property to build two strip centers for retail businesses.
The school occupies a parcel of nearly 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) and has two entrances; public access is from Baymeadows Road, and there is a private drop-off entrance from within the Deerwood gated community.
(SWD), the largest mortgage banking, real estate and insurance business in Northeast Florida. The Skinners had abundant land, but not the financial resources necessary to develop his Deerwood project. J.J. Daniel
became president of SWD in 1960 and made a deal to purchase Deerwood's 900 acres (3.6 km²) from the Skinners. SWD financed the development of Deerwood Country Club.
Bryant Skinner quit his job at SWD to concentrate on selling homes around the new golf course and started his own firm. The Bryant Skinner Company eventually became one of Jacksonville's most successful real estate development businesses. In 1980, they combined with Gate Petroleum
to develop the 250 acres (1 km²) Southpoint office park.
Don Davis
was named General Manager of Deerwood Country Club in 1965, a position he held for over 20 years. In 1978, Davis was promoted to Operations Vice President of SWD, responsible for all Deerwood Club operations, including the sale of residences and home sites. In 1979, 86 families lived at Deerwood.
area was the refuge of Jacksonville's society and old money; a neighborhood of riverfront mansions and aristocratic estates. The Timuquana Country Club
, founded in 1923, was their exclusive domain.
The establishment and success of the Deerwood Country Club was the springboard that launched dramatic growth along Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard. Retail businesses, residential developments, apartments and commercial properties included "Deerwood" in their name to associate with the club's prestige. An article in the local newspaper in 2005 stated:
Don Davis, a Jacksonville City Council
man for twelve years and State Legislator for eight years, commented, "I think the people on the other side of the river (Ortega) were quite astonished. They felt they were the first-class area in which to live. Then we had this new upstart on the Southside, on a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere."
purchased the real estate assets of SWD in 1983, which included ownership of Deerwood Country Club. Gate also owned Epping Forest Yacht Club
and Ponte Vedra Inn and Club
, so Deerwood general manager Don Davis was hired by Gate and continued to operate and manage the club. Throughout the 1980s, the pace of development increased.
In 1989, Gate built a convenience store and filling station at the intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard.
A group of Deerwood homeowners tried to buy Deerwood for $3.1 million in 1990, but were unable to convince enough members to join the effort. At that time, there were 700 members. If 500 of them participated, it would have cost about $7,500 each.
At the end of the 1990s, new federal rules required more efficient use of water, and the irrigation system for the Deerwood golf course required major renovations. Nearly all of the building lots had been sold, leaving no opportunity for profitable income.
In 1999, Gate founder Herb Peyton
gave the club three choices: the members could buy the club assets; Gate could continue to operate the club for a management fee of 3% of revenues, plus dues; or the club could be sold to a third party.
The club members agreed to buy the club assets for $5 million, becoming member-owned.
This time, around 700 members agreed to participate, including 100 non-residents. To fund the purchase, refundable equity memberships were offered for $9,000, and associate (non-voting) memberships cost $3,500.
Deerwood is now mostly built out, with approximately 900 families in homes priced above $400,000. The intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard, near the Deerwood entrance, is one of the busiest intersections in the city of Jacksonville. The Tinseltown commercial center is a couple of miles north. The Avenues Mall is two miles (3 km) south. And there are tens of thousands of people living in dozens of developments off Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road. Many homes in Deerwood are over forty years old, so it is not unusual for someone to demolish an older home and build a new custom home. Many of the larger properties are located on the east side of the development in a community known as "The Estates". The entrances are adorned with life-size bronze bucks and does; a reminder of a time when deer were plentiful and people were scarce.
The original golf clubhouse, designed by KBJ Architects and constructed in the 1960s, was demolished after a new, 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) clubhouse opened in December, 2004. The new building is elevated to allow views of the natural beauty of the golf course and surrounding lakes. The facility has multiple private rooms for member functions, a formal dining room and shaded outdoor patio areas.
The Deerwood Golf Course and its irrigation and drainage systems had significant renovation over eight months in 2004 that was long overdue. The painfully flat course was given contours to move rainwater to underground drainage and features that were omitted in 1961 due to financial constraints were added. Bunkers were reconstructed and several of the severe doglegs (bends) were straightened somewhat. A new cart facility and putting green were also included.
Equity membership entitles the member to vote and hold office and has monetary value. Equity members can also purchase Partner privileges for priority access to activities and special benefits.
Associate members have no voice in how the club is run.
Today, only 25% of the Deerwood residents are members of the Country Club. Part of that is financial; the equity initiation fee was $21,000 in 2005, with monthly dues of $349 for a golf membership. However, there are almost as many non-residents who are Deerwood Country Club members as residents. When the Deerwood Board of Governors made the decision to build a new clubhouse and renovate the golf course at a cost estimated at $9.5 million, all members were assessed a $12,000 fee to pay for it. Membership dropped from 700 in 2000 to approximately 400 in January 2004, when the project began. Approximately half of the members did not pay it, leaving the club with a huge debt.
KBJ Architects
developed the design standards for residential developments at Deerwood, which were also used at Amelia Island Plantation
.
Each of the 920+ homeowners and 29 lot owners were assessed an annual fee of $1,900 in 2010 to support the activities of the DIA.
The DIA board of directors is composed of 11 members, elected to staggered 3-year terms, with officers including president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Non-officers chair one of these committees: Standards, Architectural Review, Access Control and Safety, Grounds, Landscape, and Communication/Newsletter.
The DIA engages the services of a professional property manager, whose office handles the day-to-day operations and is the primary contact for residents. The property manager works with all the committees, provides them with assistance and coordinates their activities.
The most expensive support activity was Community Access, which cost over $600,000; Repairs and Maintenance was $400,000; Property Management was $120,000; and finally, Utilities were almost $100,000.
The secretary of the Board of Governors stated that the sale was best for the club. When asked why residents and club members weren't notified of the sale, he said, "We did not consult with the general membership, and we did not consult with the neighborhood. It really was none of their business."
A real estate consultant who analyzed the secretive sale compared the property to Palencia, an upscale golf community in St. Augustine where equivalent parcels sold for over $300,000. Based on that, the developer, who is both a Deerwood homeowner and club member, could net as much as $4 million profit, a "raw deal" for a club trying to repay a large debt. The consultant stated that if the club had done their homework, they probably could have earned more from the sale.
Gated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
and country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. After it was established in the mid-1960s, it was the most exclusive residential area on the south side of Jacksonville and remains so today, with round-the-clock guard service at two entrances and high standards for membership and residency. The golf course hosted the Greater Jacksonville Open
Greater Jacksonville Open
The Greater Jacksonville Open was a PGA Tour event that was played from 1945 until 1976.Shortly after World War II, the Jacksonville Open began play as a PGA Tour event in Jacksonville, Florida until it was discontinued in the mid-1950s. In the mid-1960s, the PGA Tour came to town again...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, forerunner of The Players Championship
The Players Championship
The Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary...
, and was once the site of talks between President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
in November, 1975.
Skinner family
Richard Green Skinner came to Jacksonville in 1899 in search of pine trees for harvesting sap to produce turpentineTurpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
for his marine supply business. Land to the south and east of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
was mostly pine trees, sand dunes or marsh; inhabited by wildlife. After 1900, the Skinner family owned close to 40000 acres (161.9 km²). That land was distributed to his six sons upon his death in the 1920s.
The oldest brother, Bright, and two other brothers moved to Tampa and received the land owned there.
The acreage nearest to the downtown went to Ben Skinner, who built the Skinner Dairy
Skinner Dairy
Skinner Dairy was a family-run dairy that existed in and around Jacksonville, Florida from the 1950s until the mid-1990s.- Origin :The family of Samuel Benjamin "Ben" Skinner operated a dairy farm on a portion of their vast land holdings in northeast Florida beginning in the early 1950s...
and Farm, which was closed and developed as Southpoint in the late 1970s.
Chester and Richard were given the biggest tracts because the land was quite remote—miles from existing roads.
Richard Skinner, in turn, gave his children, Richard, Jr., Bryant, and Dottie his land, including the property on which Deerwood would be built.
Deerwood
Bryant built the golf course in 1960-61, designed on a limited budget by notable golf course architect George CobbGeorge Cobb (golf)
George W. Cobb, ASGCA is a notable and prolific golf course designer who created the Par-3 Course at Augusta National Golf Club among more than one hundred courses and renovated many, including his own early work...
. He then constructed the first home in the Deerwood development (his own) the following year. Brother Richard Jr. built his home there in 1963. In early 1962, Bryant began to outline and lay out a unique (for Jacksonville) and exclusive gated golf community that would become Deerwood. Within his rural Florida location he envisioned a neighborhood that incorporated curving roadways, panoramas, and distinctive homes on voluminous lots with large open common areas incorporating lakes, built around a country club that would feature golf, swimming and tennis. There was plenty of room for a riding stable and bridle paths.
The development was named Deerwood because of an abundance of wildlife: turkeys, wild hogs, raccoons, bears and lots of deer.
Bryant was confident that people would embrace it, but to get there from the established city required an eight mile (13 km) drive down U.S. 1 (Philips Highway), then east for three bumpy miles on a rough dirt road named San Clerc, which would eventually become Baymeadows Road
Florida State Road 152
State Road 152, locally known as Baymeadows Road, is a Florida State Road in Jacksonville, Florida, from State Road 13 to State Road 9A....
.
In 1960, the area south of Beach Boulevard, east of US 1, and extending ten miles (16 km) to the Intracoastal Waterway (approximately 50 square miles) was wilderness consisting of sand dunes and pine trees.
In order to solve the problem of their isolated location, the Skinners donated land and convinced the Jacksonville Expressway Authority
Jacksonville Expressway Authority
The Jacksonville Expressway Authority was an independent entity established by the Florida Legislature in 1955. They owned and maintained roads and bridges in Duval County, including several toll bridges, mostly across the St. Johns River. In 1971 the Authority merged with City Coach Company and...
to build a road that would connect Beach Boulevard to Philips Highway. That thoroughfare, now called Southside Boulevard, opened Deerwood to development. In the 1970s, they gave land for Butler Boulevard, which opened more of their property, as did the extension of Baymeadows Road, east from Southside Blvd to a point where Florida State Road 9A was built. The Skinners also donated about 500 acres (2 km²) for the campus of what is now the University of North Florida
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida is a public university located in Jacksonville, Florida. A member institution of the State University System of Florida, the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s...
.
School
Jacksonville Country Day School was constructed at the southwest corner of Deerwood in 1960.The school sold their 4.3 acres (17,401.5 m²) of frontage on Southside Boulevard in 1989 for over $1 million to help pay for capital improvements. The buyers used the property to build two strip centers for retail businesses.
The school occupies a parcel of nearly 17 acres (68,796.6 m²) and has two entrances; public access is from Baymeadows Road, and there is a private drop-off entrance from within the Deerwood gated community.
Money
Bryant Skinner worked for Jacksonville's Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co.Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co.
Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. was one of the largest mortgage banking, real estate and insurance firms in the Southeast. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, they were founded as Stockton, Whatley in the late 19th century...
(SWD), the largest mortgage banking, real estate and insurance business in Northeast Florida. The Skinners had abundant land, but not the financial resources necessary to develop his Deerwood project. J.J. Daniel
J.J. Daniel
Jaquelin James Daniel , known professionally as J. J. Daniel, was an American lawyer, businessman, civic leader and newspaper publisher. Mostly forgotten in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was born and lived for most of his adulthood, he was once once of its most powerful people.-Family and early...
became president of SWD in 1960 and made a deal to purchase Deerwood's 900 acres (3.6 km²) from the Skinners. SWD financed the development of Deerwood Country Club.
Bryant Skinner quit his job at SWD to concentrate on selling homes around the new golf course and started his own firm. The Bryant Skinner Company eventually became one of Jacksonville's most successful real estate development businesses. In 1980, they combined with Gate Petroleum
Gate Petroleum
Gate Petroleum is a privately held diversified corporation headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the 11th largest in Florida in 2010. In FY 2008, the company ranked #338 on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies...
to develop the 250 acres (1 km²) Southpoint office park.
Don Davis
Don Davis (politician)
Donald Robert Davis was an American politician. He served in many roles, from decorated war veteran to petroleum executive, board chairman, association president, Jacksonville City Council president and Florida state legislator.-Early life & Military:Don Davis was born in Okemah, Oklahoma to...
was named General Manager of Deerwood Country Club in 1965, a position he held for over 20 years. In 1978, Davis was promoted to Operations Vice President of SWD, responsible for all Deerwood Club operations, including the sale of residences and home sites. In 1979, 86 families lived at Deerwood.
Area development
Prior to the annexation of South Jacksonville in 1932, the city of Jacksonville occupied land on the north and west sides of the St. Johns River. The OrtegaOrtega, Jacksonville, Florida
Ortega is a neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. It is located south of downtown Jacksonville on a peninsula off the western bank of the St. Johns River. It is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Jacksonville and is among the wealthiest in the United States, and is the location of many...
area was the refuge of Jacksonville's society and old money; a neighborhood of riverfront mansions and aristocratic estates. The Timuquana Country Club
Timuquana Country Club
Timuquana Country Club is a private golf and country club in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in Jacksonville's Ortega neighborhood, it was founded in 1923. Its golf course was originally designed by legend Donald Ross, and members have included PGA Tour professionals Steve Melnyk and David Duval...
, founded in 1923, was their exclusive domain.
The establishment and success of the Deerwood Country Club was the springboard that launched dramatic growth along Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard. Retail businesses, residential developments, apartments and commercial properties included "Deerwood" in their name to associate with the club's prestige. An article in the local newspaper in 2005 stated:
"Deerwood became the new place to live, the protected place to raise a family and the coveted community for outsiders to snag a dinner invitation. The Times-Union regularly featured its stylish homes and equally stylish homeowners. Deerwood offered riding stables along with tennis courts, a pool and, of course, what became a nationally known golf course."
Don Davis, a Jacksonville City Council
Jacksonville City Council
The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida.-Composition:The Jacksonville City Council is composed of nineteen members who are elected to four-year terms and serve as part-time legislators...
man for twelve years and State Legislator for eight years, commented, "I think the people on the other side of the river (Ortega) were quite astonished. They felt they were the first-class area in which to live. Then we had this new upstart on the Southside, on a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere."
Gate
Gate PetroleumGate Petroleum
Gate Petroleum is a privately held diversified corporation headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the 11th largest in Florida in 2010. In FY 2008, the company ranked #338 on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies...
purchased the real estate assets of SWD in 1983, which included ownership of Deerwood Country Club. Gate also owned Epping Forest Yacht Club
Epping Forest (Jacksonville, Florida)
Epping Forest was an historic, estate in Jacksonville, Florida where a luxurious riverfront Mansion was built in the mid-1920s by industrialist Alfred I. du Pont and his third wife, Jessie Ball du Pont. It was added to the U.S...
and Ponte Vedra Inn and Club
Ponte Vedra Inn and Club
The Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, located at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is a AAA Five Diamond Award resort and the first country club at Ponte Vedra. The 9th hole on the Ocean course has the distinction of having the first island green ever built.-History:...
, so Deerwood general manager Don Davis was hired by Gate and continued to operate and manage the club. Throughout the 1980s, the pace of development increased.
In 1989, Gate built a convenience store and filling station at the intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard.
A group of Deerwood homeowners tried to buy Deerwood for $3.1 million in 1990, but were unable to convince enough members to join the effort. At that time, there were 700 members. If 500 of them participated, it would have cost about $7,500 each.
At the end of the 1990s, new federal rules required more efficient use of water, and the irrigation system for the Deerwood golf course required major renovations. Nearly all of the building lots had been sold, leaving no opportunity for profitable income.
In 1999, Gate founder Herb Peyton
Herb Peyton
Herbert Hill "Herb" Peyton is an American entrepreneur and founder of Gate Petroleum in Jacksonville, Florida, which had sales of $1.44 billion in 2008...
gave the club three choices: the members could buy the club assets; Gate could continue to operate the club for a management fee of 3% of revenues, plus dues; or the club could be sold to a third party.
The club members agreed to buy the club assets for $5 million, becoming member-owned.
This time, around 700 members agreed to participate, including 100 non-residents. To fund the purchase, refundable equity memberships were offered for $9,000, and associate (non-voting) memberships cost $3,500.
Property
The Deerwood gated community was initially limited to single family residences for many years. Condominium developments, zero lot line homes, and courtyard communities were gradually included as the development matured and demand for them increased. Homesites ranged up to a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) estate, with some 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) parcels, but the average lot is over ½ acre.Deerwood is now mostly built out, with approximately 900 families in homes priced above $400,000. The intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard, near the Deerwood entrance, is one of the busiest intersections in the city of Jacksonville. The Tinseltown commercial center is a couple of miles north. The Avenues Mall is two miles (3 km) south. And there are tens of thousands of people living in dozens of developments off Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road. Many homes in Deerwood are over forty years old, so it is not unusual for someone to demolish an older home and build a new custom home. Many of the larger properties are located on the east side of the development in a community known as "The Estates". The entrances are adorned with life-size bronze bucks and does; a reminder of a time when deer were plentiful and people were scarce.
Country club
Operations within the Deerwood Country Club are controlled by the Deerwood Board of Governors (DBG), elected by the Equity membership.Facilities
The Deerwood Country Club has an 18-hole golf course & driving range, fitness center, Olympic-size swimming pool, tennis facility with 12 Har-Tru courts (8 lighted), and clubhouse.The original golf clubhouse, designed by KBJ Architects and constructed in the 1960s, was demolished after a new, 25000 square feet (2,322.6 m²) clubhouse opened in December, 2004. The new building is elevated to allow views of the natural beauty of the golf course and surrounding lakes. The facility has multiple private rooms for member functions, a formal dining room and shaded outdoor patio areas.
The Deerwood Golf Course and its irrigation and drainage systems had significant renovation over eight months in 2004 that was long overdue. The painfully flat course was given contours to move rainwater to underground drainage and features that were omitted in 1961 due to financial constraints were added. Bunkers were reconstructed and several of the severe doglegs (bends) were straightened somewhat. A new cart facility and putting green were also included.
Membership
When Deerwood first opened, every resident belonged to the Country Club because membership was connected to property ownership. That changed over the years as homes were bought and sold, and memberships became more flexible based on each owner's preferences. There are two classes of membership, but all members have access to dining, social events, fitness center and swimming pool.Equity membership entitles the member to vote and hold office and has monetary value. Equity members can also purchase Partner privileges for priority access to activities and special benefits.
Associate members have no voice in how the club is run.
Today, only 25% of the Deerwood residents are members of the Country Club. Part of that is financial; the equity initiation fee was $21,000 in 2005, with monthly dues of $349 for a golf membership. However, there are almost as many non-residents who are Deerwood Country Club members as residents. When the Deerwood Board of Governors made the decision to build a new clubhouse and renovate the golf course at a cost estimated at $9.5 million, all members were assessed a $12,000 fee to pay for it. Membership dropped from 700 in 2000 to approximately 400 in January 2004, when the project began. Approximately half of the members did not pay it, leaving the club with a huge debt.
Asset sale
To generate funds to reduce the Deerwood Country Club's financial burden, it was discovered that the club owned land that could be sold for development. In the summer of 2005, a local developer paid $2.6 million to purchase 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) on the north end of the country club—the last large undeveloped parcel, which was mostly wetlands once viewed as too expensive to utilize. The Collins Group plotted 26 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) homesites on a new thoroughfare named Collins Grove Road for multi-million dollar homes while reserving 100 acre (0.404686 km²) for conservation. The homes were expected to be a minimum of 5000 square feet (464.5 m²), with a total cost starting at $1.5 million.Gated community
Operations within the Deerwood residential community are controlled by the Deerwood Improvement Association (DIA), the community's homeowner's association. Their leadership is elected by the Voting membership.CC&R
Every deed in Deerwood includes a comprehensive set of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions which establish and permit enforcement of standards. They enable the controlled access to the community, and authorize the Deerwood Improvement Association to fund their activities and provide infrastructure including recreational areas, drainage, road maintenance and common areas.KBJ Architects
KBJ Architects
KBJ Architects, Inc. is an American architectural firm based in Jacksonville, Florida. The firm designed 17 of the city's 30 tallest buildings and "created Jacksonville's modern skyline", according to The Florida Times-Union newspaper. The firm designed the first high-rise in downtown...
developed the design standards for residential developments at Deerwood, which were also used at Amelia Island Plantation
Amelia Island Plantation
Amelia Island Plantation is a luxury resort located on Amelia Island, Florida, the westernmost barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean in the U.S. The resort's tennis facility hosted the Bausch & Lomb Championships, a major Women's Tennis Association tournament, for 20 years...
.
Facilities
The DIA manages the 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) recreation area that includes a community walk, basketball court, multi-purpose ball field, unique playground and pavilion. Other common areas include traffic islands and the two property entrances; 16 miles (25.7 km) of paved streets and street lights, the storm drainage system and 45 lakes.Membership
The DIA is an organization mandated in the Deerwood deed covenants, composed of elected Deerwood homeowners, all of whom are automatically association members. As part of Gate's sale of Deerwood in 1999, ownership of the common areas was transferred to the DIA. At that time, the DIA automatic membership did not include voting rights, which were offered for a one-time fee of $3,000 and were transferrable if the member's property was sold. Nearly two-thirds of the homeowners purchased this benefit.Functions
The DIA budget for 2010 was over $1.75 million.Each of the 920+ homeowners and 29 lot owners were assessed an annual fee of $1,900 in 2010 to support the activities of the DIA.
The DIA board of directors is composed of 11 members, elected to staggered 3-year terms, with officers including president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Non-officers chair one of these committees: Standards, Architectural Review, Access Control and Safety, Grounds, Landscape, and Communication/Newsletter.
The DIA engages the services of a professional property manager, whose office handles the day-to-day operations and is the primary contact for residents. The property manager works with all the committees, provides them with assistance and coordinates their activities.
The most expensive support activity was Community Access, which cost over $600,000; Repairs and Maintenance was $400,000; Property Management was $120,000; and finally, Utilities were almost $100,000.
Rift
The 2005 sale of 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) helped the Deerwood Board of Governors reduce their debt by $2.6 million, but not everyone was happy. A group of neighbors who built homes in 1992 on property that abuts the new development said they were assured that the wetlands would not be developed, but it was just a handshake agreement. They filed suit to block the sale, but received almost no sympathy from other homeowners and were shunned or harassed by club members and residents. They dropped the lawsuit when the developer agreed to negotiated buffers, and resigned themselves to the inevitability that their quiet cul-de-sac would become a thoroughfare for construction vehicles followed by residential traffic.The secretary of the Board of Governors stated that the sale was best for the club. When asked why residents and club members weren't notified of the sale, he said, "We did not consult with the general membership, and we did not consult with the neighborhood. It really was none of their business."
A real estate consultant who analyzed the secretive sale compared the property to Palencia, an upscale golf community in St. Augustine where equivalent parcels sold for over $300,000. Based on that, the developer, who is both a Deerwood homeowner and club member, could net as much as $4 million profit, a "raw deal" for a club trying to repay a large debt. The consultant stated that if the club had done their homework, they probably could have earned more from the sale.