When is a condo tower that opened in 2007 due for its first full structural checkup? If you read Florida's statute, the answer looks like the late 2030s, comfortably past the point where most buyers plan to sell. In Jacksonville, the answer is closer to 2032. For San Marco's riverfront towers, those five years move the first milestone inspection, and any repair bill that comes with it, into the years when someone buying this fall will probably still own the unit.
This is the detail to settle before you weigh a condo on Riverplace Boulevard against a house elsewhere in Jacksonville. It changes how the price, the association budget and the paperwork in your contract fit together.
The Clock Jacksonville Set in 2022
Under Florida law, a condo building that is three or more habitable stories tall needs a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year it turns 30. The building's age is counted from the date its certificate of occupancy was issued, and the inspection repeats every 10 years after that. The same statute lets the local enforcement agency move the first inspection to 25 years when local conditions call for it. Proximity to salt water is the example the law gives.
Jacksonville made that move. Ordinance 2022-842-E, which created Chapter 328 of the city code, requires a milestone inspection for every condo or co-op building of three or more stories by December 31 of the year the building reaches 25 years of age, then every 10 years. The rule covers Duval County outside Urban Services Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5. Before relying on that timeline, confirm with the city's Building Inspection Division that a specific building is inside the covered area. City Council took final action on December 13, 2022.
Here is how the two clocks line up for the riverfront towers with known opening years:
| Building | Address | Opened | Size | State 30-year mark | Jacksonville 25-year mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Marco Place | 1478 Riverplace Blvd. | 2007 | 21 stories, 141 units | around 2037 | around 2032 |
| The Peninsula at St. Johns Center | 1431 Riverplace Blvd. | 2008 | 37 or 38 stories by different reports, 234 units | around 2038 | around 2033 |
These years come from published opening dates, and the deadline actually runs from the certificate of occupancy date, which can differ. So read the table as a close approximation, and confirm the building's exact date before you count on a specific year. At least one public condo tracker estimates San Marco Place's milestone timing on the 30-year state default, which shows how easily the local rule gets overlooked.
Home Street Lofts at 1050 Hendricks Avenue, a 12-unit condo conversion completed in 2003, is a smaller version of the same question. Its story count isn't published in the city's downtown materials, and the ordinance only applies at three stories or more. Whether it reaches the 25-year mark in 2028 depends on how tall it is and when its certificate was issued.
The process is defined by ordinance. The city's Building Inspection Division sends the deadline notice by certified mail, and email when the association has supplied one, and Phase One of the inspection is due within 180 days of that written notice. If a Phase Two report finds substantial structural deterioration, state law requires repairs to begin within 365 days of receiving the report. When the city's rule was debated, the Florida Times-Union reported that city staff estimated about 78 buildings outside the Beaches would need inspections.
The Reserve Clock Is Already Running
The milestone inspection is only one of two clocks. The second is the structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS, which estimates what a building's major structural components will cost to repair or replace and sets the reserve funding to cover it. This study does not wait for the building's 25th birthday.
The Legislature's 2025 bill, HB 913, pushed the SIRS deadline for existing owner-controlled associations from December 31, 2024, to December 31, 2025. An association with a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026, may complete both at the same time, but no later than that date. That final date arrives at the end of this year. Under section 718.112, associations have 45 days after receiving a completed study to deliver it to unit owners or tell them it is available, and 45 days to send the state a completion statement.
At San Marco Place, a public compliance record built from state structural-integrity filings shows a SIRS on file but lists the building's milestone status as unknown. The state's DBPR SIRS reporting page explains that its database only displays complete submissions, as submitted. A filing shows that a study exists. It says nothing about what the study recommends. The figure that affects your monthly payment is in the study itself and in the association's budget.
Young Towers Still Get Big Bills
In May 2023, Jacksonville's Downtown Investment Authority announced that The Peninsula at St. Johns Center would begin $39.8 million in work on its exterior and surrounding areas. The tower was about 15 years old at the time. The announcement called it a renovation. It did not tie the work to a milestone inspection or a reserve study, and it did not describe how the cost was divided among owners. Still, it shows the scale of spending a riverfront high-rise can take on well before any statutory deadline.
So the useful comparison is a 2007 tower whose first mandated structural review is roughly six years away and whose reserves are now set by an engineer's study. Weighing it as a "newer building" against an "older building" misses that. A buyer planning to hold for five to ten years should expect both events to happen during their ownership.
What a Resale Buyer Gets on Paper
Florida's resale disclosure statute, section 718.503, already accounts for these clocks. A prospective buyer is entitled, at the seller's expense, to the inspector-prepared milestone summary if one applies. The buyer is also entitled to the association's most recent SIRS or a statement that one has not been completed, along with the other association documents.
For resale contracts signed after December 31, 2024, the contract must say whether the required milestone, SIRS and turnover reports have been completed, are incomplete or are not required. The statute ties a seven-day cancellation window, which excludes weekends and legal holidays, to when the buyer receives the required documents. If the contract acknowledges that the buyer received them more than seven days before signing, that post-signing window doesn't apply.
Financing adds another layer. Fannie Mae's condo project guidance says projects with critical repairs, inadequate insurance or certain other conditions may be ineligible. Loans on projects that don't meet its requirements can't be sold to Fannie Mae until the issues are resolved. So the building's paperwork affects the loan as well as the purchase decision.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how these rules apply to a specific unit with a Florida real estate attorney, your lender and the association.
Reading the Price Gap Through the Paperwork
In September 2026, the median sale price for townhouses and condos in the Jacksonville metro area was $260,000, down 1.5% from a year earlier, on 437 closed sales, according to Florida Realtors. That metro area covers Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. In the same month, Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS data put the Duval County single-family median at $345,000, with 29 median days on market and 3.8 months of supply.
The two figures cover different areas, so the $85,000 difference is a rough signal rather than a precise discount. Part of that difference reflects what the cheaper unit comes with. A condo buyer pays less up front partly because they also take on a share of a building's reserve schedule and inspection timeline, and a house buyer carries neither. Statewide, Florida Realtors' September 2026 report described the condo segment as adjusting to reserve requirements and other regulations. The statewide condo and townhouse median was $293,500, down 1.8% from a year earlier, and months of supply fell from 9.1 to 7.7.
For buyers who want to rent their unit out at some point, the Southbank's rental supply is growing. Related Group broke ground on Southbank Residences at 835 Museum Circle on May 20, 2026, according to Jacksonville Today, which described a 25-story tower and an eight-story building with almost 400 rental homes, a waterfront restaurant, a marina and a public boat ramp. The Jacksonville Daily Record listed the project as underway with 395 apartments in September. When it opens, new rentals will be competing for tenants a short walk from San Marco Place and The Peninsula.
Quick Answers
Is The Strand on Riverplace Boulevard a condo? No. The Florida Times-Union reported The Strand as a 28-story, 295-unit apartment tower built in 2007 that stayed a rental property rather than converting to condos. It stands next to the condo towers but follows different rules.
Does the 25-year rule apply everywhere in Duval County? The ordinance excludes Urban Services Districts 2 through 5. In those areas, the inspection timing for a building depends on its own local rules, so confirm it directly.
Where can I check a building's records? The city's Building Inspection Division links to its milestone program and ordinance, and notes that records not posted online can be requested through a public records request.
If a unit at San Marco Place, The Peninsula or another Southbank tower is on your list, Daly N Braxton will help you map the building's milestone year, and request the SIRS and milestone summary early so you have the building's documents in hand while you're still deciding. Schedule Your Consultation, and we'll build your timeline around the building's deadlines.
