JACKSONVILLE, FL-Houston-based Hines and locally based South Shore Group Partners plan to break ground in second quarter 2006 on what will be the tallest building in Central and North Florida. It will also be the second tallest edifice in Florida next to the 55-story, 1.15-million-sf, 550-foot tall Wachovia Tower in Downtown Miami, according to GlobeSt.com research.

The St. John will comprise 261-condominium homes within 43 stories and will rise 478 feet above street level, says Hines senior vice president Michael Harrison. The building's west facade will be 12 feet from the St. Johns River.

A Hines representative tells GlobeSt.com Hines' policy is not to disclose development costs on any of its projects. However, area construction sources familiar with comparable undertakings tell GlobeSt.com the hard construction cost will probably come in at about $300,000 per unit or at least a total $78 million. A general contractor hasn't yet been selected.

The St. John will be located on a three-acre site off Prudential Drive, adjacent to the Aetna Building and the main campus of the Baptist Hospital. The 22-story Aetna Building, formerly the Prudential Building and touted as the tallest building in the South in 1955, is owned and operated by South Shore Group.

Harrison says the projected pre-construction pricing range of the St. John condos, sized 1,080 sf to 2,800 sf, is $380,000 to $1.3 million. Fifteen penthouse suites will have living areas up to 3,750 sf. Penthouse prices haven't been determined. Typical floors on the lower portion of the building will have eight units per floor while upper portion floors will have six units per floor. The typical floor area is 13,200 sf.

Harrison notes there are nearby condo communities but no direct competition for the Hines product. "There are two high-rise condominiums under construction [the Peninsula and San Marco Place] that are also located in the Southbank area of Downtown Jacksonville," he tells GlobeSt.com. But "both buildings are nearly sold out."

Hines and Miami-based Arquitectonica plan to present the project in December to the Jacksonville Downtown Development Review Committee. The entire project is tentatively scheduled for completion in 2008.

"We are seeing a sustained trend towards urban living in all major US cities, including Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa," Hines' Harrison says in a prepared statement. "Empty nesters and younger professionals in particular are looking for a change in lifestyle and are moving back into Downtowns where cultural and entertainment activities are plentiful."

He says the St. John, within walking distance of dining and shopping in San Marco Square and office locations on the Southbank, "offers [buyers] a housing choice that has not previously existed Downtown."

The tallest office building in Downtown Jacksonville is the 42-story Bank of America Tower, completed in 1990. On the drawing boards by separate developers are Riverpointe I and Riverpointe II, both 48-story Downtown residential towers. Hines and South Shore Group Partners began planning the St. John in early 2005, Harrison tells GlobeSt.com.