JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County is getting its first neighborhood built around a man-made beach. Metro Development Group held a groundbreaking Wednesday, Oct. 28, for the swimming lagoon at the heart of Diamond Springs, a master-planned community on Jacksonville’s Westside.
The lagoon itself covers about 4 acres inside a 17-acre recreation area. Plans call for sandy shores, kayaking and paddleboarding, a swim-up bar, a floating obstacle course, a splash pad for children, volleyball, food trucks and an events pavilion. Watercraft, tiki shelters and lounges will be available to rent.
Diamond Springs sits at Normandy and Bright Lagoon boulevards, west of Cecil Airport and near the Winchester Ridge subdivision. The Tampa-based developer plans about 2,700 single-family homes and town homes across 1,300 acres there. Its first model home opened in October 2025, and some houses have already been built and sold.
Four builders are working in the community: Lennar, D.R. Horton, Dream Finders Homes and DRB Homes. Builder listings linked by the developer put entry prices at $199,000 for a town home and about $236,000 for a detached house.
The developer still has a key question to settle: where the water comes from. Company representatives said the source could be wells, water bought from the city, or both. Lisa Gibbings, the company’s vice president of corporate affairs, said each lagoon is different, and some the company runs around Tampa Bay hold more than 33 million gallons.
Work on the lagoon is expected to finish in late 2027. It will not be limited to residents, since the developer plans to sell day passes to visitors from outside the neighborhood.
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