WILDLIGHT, FL – April 25, 2019 – Today, Raydient Places + Properties announced that KinderCare® Learning Centers is building a more than 10,000-sq. ft. early childhood education and care facility in Wildlight, the new town under development in Nassau County. The Yulee KinderCare center will serve more than 100 children between the ages six weeks to 12 years old when the center opens in late 2019.
“At KinderCare, everything we do is designed for learning,” said District Leader Nora Bergeon-Capps. “We believe that when a parent drops their child off at one of our centers, they’re ensuring that their child is in a safe, nurturing education program that will provide a strong foundation for learning. We believe every child deserves access to high-quality early childhood education and care, which is why we’re excited to join the new Wildlight community in Yulee.”
In 1969, the first KinderCare opened its doors in Alabama with a singular calling: to help hardworking families pursue their personal and professional dreams. Today, KinderCare is a nationwide community of passionate teachers and staff striving to make each child’s potential shine, imparting a lifelong love of learning and helping children build confidence for life. The Yulee KinderCare center will include nine total classrooms, a full-size gym and fully-equipped outdoor playground.
“We are excited to welcome KinderCare® Learning Centers to Wildlight as the community’s first child care provider,” said Chris Corr, President, Raydient Places + Properties. “The Yulee KinderCare center will provide the community’s growing number of families with high-quality learning and child care that directly aligns with our fundamental values and will.”
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About Wildlight Wildlight is envisioned as a new town inspired by a character, culture and pattern of living that we call “Florida Lowcountry,” where play is a part of every day and the natural world is a natural part of life. The plan for Wildlight includes a mix of homes, townhomes and rental apartments together with businesses, shops and restaurants, a new elementary school and a system of connecting trails and pathways intended to promote a walkable community and healthy lifestyle. Our Phase 1 plan is flexible and currently designed for about 1,000 homes throughout 260 acres, approximately. In addition, the community will have approximately 350 acres of permanently preserved open space. Wildlight offers comfortable and friendly Florida Lowcountry living located 20 miles north of Jacksonville and just east of Interstate-95 on A1A. There is easy access to both Amelia Island and the Jacksonville International Airport. Wildlight is being created by Raydient Places + Properties, a taxable subsidiary of Rayonier Inc., a real estate investment trust. For more information please visit Wildlight.com.
About KinderCare® Learning Centers KinderCare Learning Centers is America’s largest, most accredited child care provider, serving more than 165,000 children every day at more than 1,380 centers. For 50 years, we’ve been creating safe, encouraging environments where kids can learn, grow and build confidence for life. At KinderCare, hardworking families are family—regardless of needs, backgrounds, and experiences.
To learn more, visit us online at KinderCare, on Facebook or on Instagram. For resources, information, and activity ideas for parents and teachers of young children please visit KinderCare.com/blog. In 2018, Rainbow Child Care Centers joined the KinderCare family. Learn more about Rainbow.
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Rendering of of KinderCare Learning Center’s Wildlight location is provided by KinderCare Education. All renderings are subject to change
WILDLIGHT, FL – Feb. 14, 2019 – Today, Raydient Places + Properties announced that Impact Properties will develop a Marriott-branded hotel in Wildlight, the new town under construction in Nassau County. The Marriott-branded hotel will be the first hotel to open in Wildlight.
With over 60,000 square feet and up to 105 guest rooms, the hotel at Wildlight will provide a full range of services for business and vacation travelers alike. It will offer a refreshing and stylish take on the travel experience with modern, upscale décor, premium food and beverage venues and a variety of wellness options.
Amenities such as a convenient 24-hour market, dedicated business center, state-of-the-art fitness center and outdoor spaces such as a fire pit and pool area will cater to every guest’s needs and create the perfect stay.
“We are delighted to bring one of Marriott’s powerful brand names to Wildlight,” said Kish Kanji, Executive VP of Impact Properties. “Partnering with Marriott on this project will enable us to deliver a truly unique guest experience for visitors to and residents of Northeast Florida. As this region continues to grow and expand, having an established hotel in the heart of the Florida Lowcountry will further attract future business travelers and vacationers to the area.”
Impact Properties, a Tampa-based full-service investment, operating and development company, will develop, own and manage the hotel at Wildlight. Impact has been a leading operator of major national franchise brands in the hotel, restaurant, and retail industries for the past 30 years and currently owns 57 locations across the Southeast with an additional 16 locations under development.
“Marriott’s strong brand recognition and dedication to innovation makes it the perfect fit for Wildlight,” said Chris Corr, President, Raydient Places + Properties. “We are excited to provide a modern, upscale hotel for future visitors, located within easy driving distance to the best of Northeast Florida, such as Amelia Island and Jacksonville’s evolving urban core.”
Construction is expected to begin by late-2019 with completion planned for 2020. Terms of the sale have not been disclosed.
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About WildlightWildlight is envisioned as a new town inspired by a character, culture and pattern of living that we call “Florida Lowcountry,” where play is a part of every day and the natural world is a natural part of life. The plan for Wildlight includes a mix of homes, townhomes and rental apartments together with businesses, shops and restaurants, a new elementary school and a system of connecting trails and pathways intended to promote a walkable community and healthy lifestyle. Our Phase 1 plan is flexible and currently designed for about 1,000 homes throughout 260 acres, approximately. In addition, the community will have approximately 350 acres of permanently preserved open space. Wildlight offers comfortable and friendly Florida Lowcountry living located 20 miles north of Jacksonville and just east of Interstate-95 on A1A. There is easy access to both Amelia Island and the Jacksonville International Airport. Wildlight is being created by Raydient Places + Properties, a taxable subsidiary of Rayonier Inc., a real estate investment trust. For more information please visit Wildlight.com.
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Rendering of Wildlight’s future hotel is provided by Impact Properties. All renderings are subject to change.
WILDLIGHT, FL – Jan. 23, 2019 – Wildlight, the new town being developed in Nassau County, is taking shape with residents moving in, commercial buildings under construction and exciting events going on for the greater community. The community’s distinctive Florida Lowcountry aesthetic is coming to life through its residential architecture.
Raydient Places & Properties, the developer of Wildlight, is working with three home builders, D.S Ware Homes, Dream Finders Homes and Dostie Homes, to design and build single family homes and townhomes inspired by the Florida Lowcountry’s character, culture and pattern of living. All three homebuilders are following Wildlight’s Pattern Book to build homes inspired by 19th century, southern architecture, but with a forward-leaning, more-contemporary perspective. Florida Lowcountry’s timeless design is characterized by large front porches, simple lines, native Florida landscaping and exterior color palettes that tie directly to the community’s natural surroundings.
Wildlight’s first homebuilder, D.S. Ware Homes, recently opened its second model home, the Willow. The new model is 1,866 sq. ft. with three bedrooms, two baths, and a covered patio. Much like D.S. Ware’s first model home in Wildlight, the River Birch, the Willow features high ceilings, large windows and a front porch, perfect for Lowcountry living. Base price for the Willow is $309,900.
Dream Finders Homes will hold a grand opening for its first two model homes on Wednesday, Jan. 23, for interested individuals to tour the Augusta II and Anderson models. The Augusta II model is a two-story plan with 2,776 sq. ft. of indoor/outdoor living space. This home features four bedrooms, three bathrooms with grand double porches on the front of the home that capture the essence of Florida Lowcountry living. Base price for the Augusta II model is $344,990. The Anderson model is also a two-story plan, but with 2,862 sq. ft. and four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms. Base price for the Anderson model is $367,990.
Dostie Homes has broken ground on its first townhome model in Wildlight called the Charleston featuring one of the renowned builder’s all-new floor plans with 2,015 sq. ft., four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. Small, fenced rear yards with covered lanais also provide a sense of privacy, which is not typical of townhome living. Pricing for the townhomes start at $230,000. Dostie will also be building single family homes on 70-foot wide manor homesites with square footage ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 sq. ft.
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About Wildlight
Wildlight is envisioned as a new town inspired by a character, culture and pattern of living that we call “Florida Lowcountry,” where play is a part of every day and the natural world is a natural part of life. The plan for Wildlight includes a mix of homes, townhomes and rental apartments together with businesses, shops and restaurants, a new elementary school and a system of connecting trails and pathways intended to promote a walkable community and healthy lifestyle. Our Phase 1 plan is flexible and currently designed for about 1,000 homes throughout 260 acres, approximately. In addition, the community will have approximately 350 acres of permanently preserved open space. Wildlight offers comfortable and friendly Florida Lowcountry living located 20 miles north of Jacksonville and just east of Interstate-95 on A1A. There is easy access to both Amelia Island and the Jacksonville International Airport. Wildlight is being created by Raydient Places + Properties, a taxable subsidiary of Rayonier Inc., a real estate investment trust. For more information please visit Wildlight.com.
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A seafood boil isn’t unique to the Florida Lowcountry or even to the south. Folks from Maine to Louisiana have been celebrating family, friends and good food for decades, and even the west coast has its own spin on the tradition. But there is something about being outside on a sunny day in Florida, enjoying a dish of fresh shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes and onions with family and neighbors around that truly feels like it belongs right here in the Lowcountry.
The tradition of getting together, sharing food and time and memories is as true to this region as sitting on your front porch at sunset, waving to and chatting with your neighbors. If you have the opportunity to attend a Lowcountry boil or want to try to capture the experience wherever you are, here are a few tips to make the most of this grand get-together.
• Fresh is best. A good boil is all about the ingredients, especially the seafood. Down here, a boil will use shrimp caught that day (or that hour!). If you have a local seafood market, we recommend stopping by and getting a heaping portion of shrimp or your shellfish of choice there.
• Be ready to get dirty. Digging into a plate of shrimp and sausage and veggies can get messy, but that’s what makes a boil so much fun. You’re around friends and family, so don’t stress and just embrace the experience. Everything tastes even better that way.
• All are welcome. A Lowcountry boil isn’t just a recipe, it’s an event best shared with others. Whether it’s family, friends, neighbors or whoever’s around (that delicious smell might just attract some new friends), it’s best to make plenty of food and enjoy the time you spend together.
If you’re throwing your own boil, we wish you luck, good food and good company. And if it seems intimidating to host, just come on down to the Florida Lowcountry for the real thing. It’s an experience you won’t regret, and you’ll make memories to savor for years to come.
Feeding FLOCO’s Future with Aquaponics
As populations grow and fewer young people enter into farming, the need for new and cost-effective solutions to maintain food supply becomes more urgent. Aquaponics is one such innovative solution that yields ample crops with more efficient use of land and water than conventional farming techniques.
A collaboration between North Florida’s largest aquaponics farm, Traders Hill Farm, and Nassau County School District is giving Wildlight students the opportunity to learn about aquaponics. This mutually beneficial partnership allows West Nassau High School students to apply what they learn by growing lettuce for the school cafeteria.
Working with aquaponics in science classes also helps prepare Nassau County students for careers in sustainable farming.
“With our biotechnology and aquaponics program at West Nassau, we have all phases of a model workforce development program,” Director of Career and Adult Education Brent Lemond told the Nassau County Economic Development Board. “There is an employer, Traders Hill Farm, assisting us to plan curriculum and ready to hire our graduates. We have a post-secondary partner in Florida State College at Jacksonville.”
We look forward to watching this program continue to grow (no pun intended)!
Television, personal computers, space flight… There’s no denying that the past century has been a huge one in terms of technological progress. But according to industry insiders, we’re just getting started.
In fact, some of our biggest innovators are forecasting that we’ll see more tech changes to our lifestyle over the next four to five years than we did over the past 100. What might that look like? Here are a few predictions:
1: Mind Control
Scientists have already created next-generation prosthetics where brain signals can move a robotic arm in the same way as a regular arm. The next step is wider uses for paralyzed patients, like mind-controlled wheelchairs and even day-to-day applications. The jury’s out on how soon we’ll be able to conjure up our favorite show with a thought, but experts agree it can’t be far off.
2: Bottleneck-Free Internet Access
The amount of time the average American home spends streaming, downloading and uploading, has challenged internet providers to up their game. While top providers offer average speeds of around 50 Mbps, that’s a snail’s pace compared to the gigabit communities now in development, which will have connections 20 times faster. Take a look at this video to see how one community is starting from scratch to bring unlimited bandwidth to its homes and businesses.
3: A Sharing Economy
You can share your home via Airbnb, borrow a dress on Rent the Runway and even lend out your private plane on OpenAirplane. These businesses are built on the idea that it’s more efficient to borrow something – say, a car – rather than own one that sits unused for 22 hours a day. Big players like Apple, Google and Uber are following this model and working on technology that will allow us to own less and share more.
4: Wall-to-Wall Screens
It’s hard to believe that your shiny new LCD TV may soon be considered an antique, but at the speed that display technology moves, it’s certainly a possibility. Imagine, walls, windows and mirrors covered with paper-thin OLED panels. Miniature chips in the screens will wirelessly connect to nearby devices, effectively eliminating TVs but bringing its viewing pleasure to every square inch of your house.
