Community Details at a Glance
The Homes
Type
Attached townhomes, 2 plans (Ryan Homes)
Size
Roughly 1,635 to 1,924 SF, 3 bedrooms
Plans
Neptune (1st-floor owner suite) or Thornewood (2-car garage, loft)
Status
Builder sold out; resale-only going forward
Costs & Fees
HOA
Townhome dues reported ~$205/mo (confirm coverage)
CDD
Shearwater CDD on the tax bill, varies by parcel
Builder pricing
Closeout ran $299,990 into the $360s
Amenities
Water
Kayak Club lagoon pool, Lazy Bird River, The Perch slide
Fitness
Fitness Lodge with multi-lane lap pool
Outdoors
Trails, Outpost Adventure Park, Trout Creek kayak launch
Access
Full Shearwater master-plan amenity access
Location
Area
Inside Shearwater off CR-210, northern St. Johns
Shopping
~12 to 15 min to Durbin Park retail
Nearby
~22 min to St. Johns Town Center, ~25 to St. Augustine
The Homes & Style
The Ryan Homes Shearwater Townhomes are a two-plan, 3-bedroom collection on Yellowstone Drive inside the Shearwater master plan, running roughly 1,635 to 1,924 square feet with open-concept kitchens, islands, and rear lanais. The defining choice is the floor plan: the Neptune puts the owner suite on the first floor, a rarity in this price band that ages well for buyers who want to avoid stairs, while the Thornewood adds a 2-car garage and a loft that can convert to a fourth bedroom. The collection is recent-code construction and now sold out by the builder, so every purchase from here is a resale.
Living Here
Townhome owners get full Shearwater amenity access, which is among the strongest campuses in Northeast Florida: the Kayak Club lagoon pool, the Lazy Bird River (the region’s longest lazy river), The Perch three-story waterslide, the Fitness Lodge with a multi-lane lap pool, miles of trails, the Outpost Adventure Park, and a kayak launch on Trout Creek inside the plan. The format is lock-and-leave, with the association maintaining exterior layers, which suits first buyers, downsizers, and commuters. Trout Creek Academy, a K-8 that opened inside the plan in 2024, is a structural draw.
Before You Offer
Verify the townhome HOA amount and exactly what it covers (roofs, exterior, insurance split), then pull the parcel’s Shearwater CDD line and bond status from the tax bill, since the CDD is the cost no-CDD rivals avoid. Clarify the association-versus-owner insurance split for the attached format and get a real quote; recent-code construction works in your favor. Confirm the leasing rules before underwriting any rental use, check internet service options, and run a third-party inspection even on a near-new home. Pull the flood determination on any pond-adjacent position.
Comparisons
The closest cross-shop is Beacon Lake Townhomes, which sells a 43-acre paddling lake and its own in-community K-8 with an active builder still anchoring prices; Shearwater sells the lazy-river campus and a finished, sold-out collection. Lennar also sells a separate 24-foot townhome product elsewhere inside Shearwater with its own HOA and streets, so do not let a portal blur the two Shearwater products together. Versus a no-CDD townhome elsewhere on the CR-210 corridor, the honest comparison is all-in monthly versus amenity value, not sticker price alone.
Who It Fits
This fits first buyers, downsizers, and commuters who want a lock-and-leave home with resort-grade amenities and a top St. Johns County school path, and who will actually use the campus that the fees fund. It fits buyers who value the Neptune’s first-floor owner suite or the Thornewood’s garage-and-loft flexibility. It fits less well for buyers who want the lowest possible carrying cost and would rather skip the CDD, those who need a large yard or detached single-family privacy, and anyone unwilling to model the HOA-plus-CDD stack honestly before falling for the lazy river.
