Community Details at a Glance
The Homes
Type
Single-family community
Built
1990s onward
Sizes
Midsize homes on suburban lots
Status
Established; resale market
Costs & Fees
HOA
Funds parks, trails, common areas
CDD
Confirm no bond on the parcel
Club
None; HOA-funded amenities only
Insurance
Inland Westside; check roof age
Amenities
Parks
Parks and playgrounds
Trails
Walking trails
HOA
Active, maintained community
Setting
Off Collins Road near I-295
Location
Area
Argyle/Oakleaf, Westside 32244
Access
Minutes to I-295 and Blanding
Shopping
Argyle and Oakleaf Town Center
Nearby
NAS Jacksonville, Cecil corridor
The Homes & Style
Highland Lakes is a value single-family community. Recent third-party data put the median list price around $255,000 and roughly $232 per square foot, with pricing varying by home size, lot, and condition.
For county context, the NEFAR April 2026 report put the Duval County median single-family price at about $332,500, a county-wide figure. Highland Lakes prices below that, reflecting the value tier of the Argyle and Oakleaf corridor.
Highland Lakes is a single-family community of midsize homes, so the variation is mostly in the home size, the lot, and whether a property backs to a lake or a preserve.
The homes are well-maintained midsize single-family houses on standard lots, in a range of sizes at value-to-midmarket prices.
Homes that back to a lake or a preserve carry a premium over interior lots for the view and the added privacy.
Living Here
Highland Lakes is run as an HOA community with shared amenities for residents.
The community offers parks, playgrounds, and walking trails maintained by the active homeowners association, giving buyers outdoor space within the neighborhood.
The location off Collins Road puts the Argyle and Oakleaf retail, top-of-mind Westside shopping, and I-295 within a short drive.
Everyday shopping and dining sit along the Argyle and Oakleaf corridors minutes away, with deeper retail at the Oakleaf Town Center and the urban core a drive east for more options.
Highland Lakes carries an HOA. Confirm the current dues and what they cover, and confirm whether the parcel carries a CDD bond, before you buy.
On an established home, confirm the roof age, the systems, and whether the lot backs to a lake or a preserve, since those drive both insurance and value.
Before You Offer
Highland Lakes is a clean, established community, but a few checks still protect your money. Pull the flood zone for the specific home before you write. Most of the Argyle and Oakleaf area sits inland and out of the high-risk zones, but lots that back to a lake or a retention area can read differently, and the flood determination drives both your lender requirements and your premium. Get an insurance quote early, since Florida premiums have moved and the number varies by roof age, construction, and the four-point and wind-mitigation details on an established home.
On the HOA, get the current dues, what they cover, and whether the community carries any separate assessment in writing before you commit, and confirm there is no CDD bond on the parcel through the Duval County Property Appraiser. Highland Lakes does not carry a country club, so the carrying cost is the HOA plus taxes and insurance. Confirm internet at the address, since the larger providers serve this corridor, and verify the actual speed rather than the advertised maximum. Finally, on any resale, read the roof and systems age and budget for the first wave of replacements on a home of this vintage.
Comparisons
The honest field for Highland Lakes is the other established and master-planned communities in the Argyle and Oakleaf corridor, each with a different trade-off.
Chimney Lakes is a large, established Argyle community nearby with a broad range of homes and its own amenities, a deeper market than Highland Lakes at a similar value tier. Argyle Forest is the wider established Argyle area with a broad range of homes and the corridor retail close at hand. Oakleaf Plantation is a larger, amenity-rich master-planned community nearby with resort-style pools and recreation, but at a comparable-to-higher price point and with its own CDD on the tax bill.
Where Highland Lakes consistently wins is the combination of a maintained HOA community with parks and trails, value pricing below the median, and quick I-295 access without a heavy fee stack. It loses to Oakleaf on amenity scale and brand-new construction. We will help you weigh them by total cost of ownership, not list price.
Who It Fits
Highland Lakes fits value buyers who want a maintained, established single-family community on the Westside, with parks, playgrounds, and trails, near the Argyle and Oakleaf retail and quick to I-295 and NAS Jacksonville. The active HOA, the below-median pricing, and the settled streets suit a buyer who wants amenities and space without a gate or a heavy CDD-backed fee stack, and who would rather pay a modest HOA than a fuller master-plan assessment.
It is a weaker fit for buyers who want to be a short drive from the beaches or the St. Johns Town Center, who need a gated entrance or a resort-style amenity package, or who want brand-new construction with a builder warranty. Buyers sensitive to corridor traffic should test the Collins Road and I-295 interchange at their real commute hours, since the Westside is growing. For those buyers, the larger master plans nearby may be the better match.
