Jubilee construction delayed, contractors file liens

Jubilee construction delayed, contractors file liens

By Deborah Nelson
August 6, 2007

Construction on Pace’s proposed 2,700 acre Jubilee development will not meet initial timetable projections, say project officials. Three contractors recently filed liens against Jubilee land, owned by Atlanta-based developer The Eagle Group.

The liens cite unpaid golf course and other work at Jubilee, located off Luther Fowler Road.

Eagle Group spokesperson Guy Balencie says the company is slowing the project to let the market catch up with it, and that officials are negotiating financing to address the liens.

Last year, the Eagle Group unveiled a Master Plan for the 2,700 acre, small-town style ‘city within a city,’ that featured walker and biker-friendly, ecologically oriented amenities.

Jubilee’s initial concept includes a private, 7,400 yard, 18-hole golf course, fitness centers, commercial areas, neighborhood parks, gardens, interconnected trails and pools.

Lots for the development’s Phase I, which includes 588 homes, a golf course, Discovery Center and clubhouse, were scheduled to be available this Fall.

Those lots are now planned for next spring, Balencie says, along with the first nine holes of the golf course. The last nine are rescheduled to open in Fall 2008, according to Balencie.

Jubilee’s Master Plan also features a 25-acre gopher tortoise habitat. Project officials, last year, announced that some 40 percent of the development’s total land would be set aside for wetlands or conservation areas.

To help accommodate increased traffic, Eagle Group agreed to build a new north-south roadway between Luther Fowler and Willard Norris Roads.

As of last Friday, the West Florida Regional Planning Council had not yet received Jubilee’s application for development review (ADA), according to that agency.

Florida’s Department of Community Affairs must grant final approval for large-scale projects, called developments of regional impact (DRIs), like Jubilee. WFRPC oversees the process locally.

Smaller portions of Jubilee’s proposed plan got preliminary County approval earlier this year.

Jubilee’s Phase I site has been rezoned, approximately 120 homesites have been platted, and the project received conditional approval for golf course landscaping and a Discovery Center facility, according to county planner Bill DuBois.

The course still requires a parking lot plan, before it can open for business, says DuBois.

Last month, Thomas R. Cutts filed some $30,000 in liens, for labor performed on West Calhoun Construction’s Jubilee contracts, according to Clerk of Courts records.

A separate claim of lien, filed by West Calhoun Construction, cites $388,052 unpaid for improvements to development property.

Records also show a lien against Eagle Group land by Wadsworth Construction Company for $3.4 million in golf course construction services. Wadsworth’s legal documentation indicates the company performed $8 million, overall, in work between January and July of this year.

Jubilee’s proposed design is subject to change without notice, or be modified as market conditions dictate, according to Eagle Group’s website.