Community Details at a Glance
The Homes
Type
Two-story condominium buildings, 1984 vintage
Size
About 1,154 to 1,530 SF, two and three bedrooms
Features
Screened lanais, wood-burning fireplaces, assigned parking
Status
Established condo community; resale only
Costs & Fees
Condo fee
Confirm the current monthly fee with the association (published figures are stale)
CDD
No CDD reported (confirm on the tax bill)
Property tax
Duval millage roughly 17.9 to 18.5 mills
Amenities
Community
Clubhouse, community lake, pool, spa, and tennis
Recreation
On-site pool and tennis; St. Johns Town Center about 10 minutes
Parking
Assigned parking with each unit
Gate
Open access off Baymeadows Road; confirm with the association
Location
Area
Baymeadows, Southside Jacksonville, ZIP 32256
Access
About 5 minutes to I-95 at Baymeadows Road
Nearby
St. Johns Town Center, the Baymeadows office corridor, Southside Boulevard
The Homes & Style
Hillwood is a single 1984 condominium community on Wood Hill Drive and Wood Hill Place, so the shopping decision comes down to unit size, floor level, and condition rather than separate named sections. The core product runs around 1,154 to 1,300 square feet, and that is where most recent sales have landed. The larger plans push toward 1,530 square feet, which is house-sized space at condo pricing; they come up less often and tend to draw both owner-occupants and investors when they do.
Floor level and the unit line matter more here than buyers expect. Ground-floor units skip the stairs and suit downsizers; upper units get a vaulted feel and fewer ceiling neighbors. Both carry screened lanais, so it mostly comes down to preference, the view from the unit line, and availability. Units that look across the community lake hold a quiet premium over those that face parking or another building, and the wood-burning fireplaces are a period feature buyers either love or shrug at.
The buyer pool is value hunters who want real square footage in the Baymeadows corridor for well under 200,000 dollars, downsizers who want a low-maintenance unit near the Town Center, and investors drawn by steady rental demand near the Southside employment base. The spread between an updated unit and an original one is the single biggest pricing variable in the building, so price a specific unit against the closest comparable, matched on floor, line, and condition, not against the community average.
Living Here
The amenity package is classic 1980s condo: a real list, modestly maintained, and centered on the lake. There is a clubhouse that doubles as the association hub, a community pool and spa that serve as the recreation centerpiece, a tennis court that survives from the 1984 build, and the lake itself, which anchors the property and backdrops the better-positioned buildings. None of it is resort-grade, but it is more amenity than most sub-200,000 dollar condos in the corridor offer.
The Baymeadows Road corridor handles groceries, restaurants, and daily errands within a couple of minutes, and St. Johns Town Center, the regional shopping and dining hub, is roughly ten minutes away. I-95 at Baymeadows Road is about five minutes out, which puts downtown, the Southside office parks, and the beaches all within easy reach.
Three quiet truths shape value here. Nearly every aggregator shows a low monthly fee for Hillwood that dates to years ago; condo insurance costs in Florida have moved dramatically since then, so budget for a higher figure and get the real number from the association before you fall in love with the payment math. The wood-burning fireplaces are charming and increasingly rare, but chimneys and fireboxes this old need inspection. And a meaningful slice of Hillwood is investor-owned rentals, which keeps prices honest and rental comps available but means lenders will ask about owner-occupancy ratios during condo review, so have your lender run the project early if you are financing.
Before You Offer
In a 1984 condo, the association documents are the inspection. Florida law now requires a Structural Integrity Reserve Study and, for buildings of three stories or more, a milestone inspection; Hillwood's two-story buildings change the milestone picture, but the reserve and budget questions still apply. Get the budget, the reserve study, the most recent meeting minutes, and any special-assessment history in writing during your review period, and read them, do not skim them.
Do not trust the low monthly condo fee that syndicated listing sites keep repeating; it is stale. The current fee must be confirmed in writing with the association before contract, and Florida condo insurance and reserve requirements have pushed fees up across the board since that figure was published. Budget the real number, not the headline.
The wood-burning fireplaces are a signature feature of the 1984 build, but a chimney and firebox this old deserve a dedicated inspection; a clean fireplace report is a small line item that protects a big selling feature. Confirm the assigned parking space for any specific unit, and have your lender run the project for owner-occupancy ratios early if you are financing.
Jacksonville participates in the FEMA Community Rating System at a class 6, which earns flood-insurance discounts of about 10 percent for homes outside a special flood hazard area and about 20 percent for homes inside one. Pull the FEMA flood designation for the specific building, and get a bindable insurance quote during your inspection period. The Jacksonville metro is served by Xfinity (Comcast) cable across nearly all addresses and by AT&T with DSL almost everywhere plus fiber to a growing share of homes; confirm the options at the specific Hillwood address.
Comparisons
Most buyers weighing Hillwood are cross-shopping the other established Baymeadows and Southside condos where real square footage still trades for well under 200,000 dollars. Here is the honest shorthand.
| Community | The trade-off |
|---|---|
| Baymeadows | The broader Baymeadows market of condos, townhomes, and single-family homes; more variety and price range, less of the lakefront-amenity, big-unit value Hillwood concentrates in one community. |
| Deercreek | A gated Southside country-club community nearby; trades far higher for the golf and gates, where Hillwood trades on square footage per dollar. |
| Windsor Parke | An established Southside community a little east; newer feel and higher pricing, where Hillwood wins on entry price and unit size. |
The honest verdict: if you want the most heated, finished square footage per dollar in the Baymeadows corridor with a real amenity list and a lake, Hillwood is one of the best values around. If you want newer construction, a gated entrance, or a unit with no shared-building review to navigate, the field is elsewhere, and we will help you weigh the fee and reserve math against the square footage.
Who It Fits
Hillwood fits if you want
- Real square footage in the Baymeadows corridor for well under 200,000 dollars.
- A low-maintenance unit minutes from St. Johns Town Center and I-95.
- A real amenity list, clubhouse, pool, spa, tennis, and a community lake.
- A lakefront-line or upper-floor unit with the view and the fireplace.
- A rental-friendly community with steady demand near the Southside jobs base.
Consider elsewhere if you want
- Newer construction; the buildings show their 1984 vintage.
- To skip condo review; the budget, reserves, and fee deserve a careful read.
- A predictable monthly fee; the published figure is stale and fees have risen.
- A gated entrance, which is not advertised here.
- An owner-occupant-only community; a meaningful share are investor rentals.






















