RiverTown and Tributary: Two Newer Master Plans on Opposite Ends of Jacksonville

Late in the day at RiverTown, the boardwalk at the RiverClub runs along the St. Johns River, someone is sliding a kayak off the launch, and the river is wide enough that the far bank looks like a line of trees. Fifty-some miles north, in Yulee, the light is going gold over the lake at Tributary's amenity center while the pickleball courts fill up.

Both are newer master-planned communities, and both get compared with the bigger names buyers already know, like Nocatee and World Golf Village. What they offer is different from those older places, and the differences show up in real numbers.

A quick correction: older versions of this page said both communities are in St. Johns County, that Tributary is near RiverTown, and that neither has an age-restricted section. Tributary is in Yulee, Nassau County. RiverTown's WaterSong neighborhood is a 55+ community, and Lennar markets Lakeview at Tributary as active-adult living.

Opposite Ends of Jacksonville

RiverTown sits along the St. Johns River in St. Johns County, with Longleaf Pine Parkway (County Road 244) running through it. The community's listed address is 90 Lanier Street in St. Johns. Tributary sits off State Road 200 (A1A) in Yulee, about 2.2 miles west of I-95.

Road miles below were measured with OpenStreetMap routing in October 2026, from RiverTown's Lanier Street area and from Tributary's Lily Pond Court area.

Destination	From RiverTown	From Tributary
World Golf Village	11.8 mi	53.9 mi
Nocatee Town Center	14.9 mi	47.9 mi
St. Johns Town Center	22.5 mi	32.3 mi
Downtown Jacksonville (City Hall)	29.2 mi	23.9 mi
Jacksonville airport (terminal road)	42.1 mi	14.8 mi
Beach	Mickler's Landing, 20.3 mi	Main Beach, Amelia Island, 18.5 mi

RiverTown's daily life points south and east, toward World Golf Village, Nocatee and St. Augustine. Tributary's points toward the airport, River City Marketplace and Amelia Island.

What a Newer Master Plan Gives You: New Homes at Several Price Points

The clearest difference from older communities is choice in new construction. Here is what the builders' sites showed on October 28, 2026.

RiverTown. Mattamy Homes runs the community's website and builds most of its neighborhoods. Forest offers single-family homes on 40- and 60-foot homesites, with plans from $406,990 to $519,990. Springs offers 75-foot homesites with plans from $694,990, from 2,705 to 4,461 square feet. Meadows townhomes start in the mid $200s. Toll Brothers builds Shores at RiverTown, a gated riverfront neighborhood with townhomes priced from $649,000 and private boat slips for residents. On the MLS, 114 active listings carried RiverTown in the neighborhood name, from $249,000 to $1,575,000.

Tributary. GreenPointe describes about 1,500 acres with approximately 3,200 homes. David Weekley's 50-foot homesites started at $366,900 and its 70-foot homesites at $498,900, and Lennar's Lakeview at Tributary ran from $459,990 to $629,990. The MLS showed 39 active Tributary listings from $359,900 to $649,900.

The older names. Nocatee is mostly resale now; David Weekley's Reflections page was down to final opportunities, and the MLS showed 73 active single-family listings with Nocatee in the name, from $345,000 to $2,225,034. In World Golf Village, the MLS showed 25 active single-family listings in WGV-named neighborhoods, from $329,990 to $1,650,000, built between 2000 and 2020.

The Trade-Off: Fees, Bonds and Taxes

New infrastructure is usually paid for with Community Development District (CDD) bonds, and that shows up on the yearly bill.

• RiverTown: CDD amounts on active listings ran from $1,172 to $6,616. The main association fee on many listings was $53 a year, with more in some sections: WaterSong townhomes showed $415 a month, and a Riverside listing showed $2,400 a year. WaterSong's site references the Rivers Edge CDD II.
• Tributary: Three Rivers CDD amounts on listings and builder pages ran from $1,273 to $3,142.97, and most listings showed a $150 yearly HOA.
• Nocatee: the Tolomato CDD's FY2027 operations charge runs from $465.92 to $998.42 by home type. Bond debt, where still owed, runs from $240.00 to $5,078.34, most series make their last payment in 2039, and 434 St. Johns County parcels show no debt at all.
• World Golf Village: King and Bear listings showed a $650 quarterly HOA and no CDD. Heritage Landing listings showed CDD amounts from $1,400.06 to $2,379.69, with small HOA lines such as $135 a year.

That is the real trade. A newer home usually comes with a CDD, while some older neighborhoods have paid their bonds off or never had one. Ask for the final payment year of the bond on any home, and before you compare, see whether paying off a CDD bond makes sense.

Taxes depend on the county, too. The 2025 total rate was 13.4686 mills in unincorporated St. Johns County (RiverTown, most of Nocatee, World Golf Village) and 15.1080 mills in Tributary's Nassau district. That is $1,346.86 versus $1,510.80 on each $100,000 of taxable value. Homestead works the same in both counties and does not reduce CDD charges.

Amenities: Newly Built vs. Established

RiverTown's amenities are spread along the river. The RiverClub has a zero-entry pool, a kayak launch with storage, a boardwalk with fishing access and an amphitheater. Toll Brothers describes the RiverHouse as having a fitness center, a yoga studio, two pools and water slides, and RiverTown's site also lists the RiverLodge, a trail network and pickleball.

Tributary's amenities center on its lakefront amenity center, which David Weekley's pages call The Lookout, with a resort-style pool, fitness center, lakefront pickleball, a dog park and trails.

The older names have their own draw. Nocatee's CDD owns Splash and Spray, a list of parks and the greenway trails. World Golf Village has two golf courses, King and Bear and Slammer and Squire, and a Swim and Tennis Center with pools, tennis courts, a clubhouse and an activities director, according to St. Augustine's visitor bureau.

The 55+ Question

Both newer communities include an age-restricted or active-adult option, which the old version of this page got wrong.

RiverTown's WaterSong is a 55+ neighborhood built by Mattamy. Its site says homes are intended for occupancy by at least one person 55 or older per home. Plans were listed from $381,990 to $599,990 on October 28, 2026, and amenities include a clubhouse, resort pool, heated lap pool, pickleball and bocce courts and a full-time lifestyle director.

Lennar markets Lakeview at Tributary as active-adult living with its own planned clubhouse of about 8,000 square feet. Its brochure also describes the collections as serving all ages and active adults 55+. In either community, ask for the age rules in writing for the specific home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are RiverTown and Tributary both in St. Johns County?

No. RiverTown is in St. Johns County on the St. Johns River. Tributary is in Yulee, Nassau County, 52.3 road miles from RiverTown.

Who builds in RiverTown?

Mattamy Homes is RiverTown's main builder and runs the community's website, and it builds the WaterSong 55+ neighborhood. Toll Brothers builds the gated Shores at RiverTown.

Does RiverTown have a CDD?

Yes. Active RiverTown listings on October 28, 2026 showed CDD amounts from $1,172 to $6,616, depending on the neighborhood and lot. Confirm the figure for the exact parcel.

Is World Golf Village cheaper to own than a newer community?

Sometimes. Some World Golf Village neighborhoods, such as King and Bear, showed no CDD on current listings, but their HOA can be higher, at $650 a quarter. Compare the full yearly cost of the specific homes.

Search RiverTown, Tributary and homes across Northeast Florida:

What To Do Right Now

1. Decide which side of Jacksonville your week happens on, then check the drive from RiverTown or Tributary to those places.
2. Pick one new build and one resale in an older community at a similar price, and list the HOA, CDD and estimated taxes for each as yearly figures.
3. If a 55+ neighborhood interests you, ask WaterSong or Lennar's Lakeview team for the age rules in writing.
4. Ask how many years remain on the CDD bond for each home you are considering.
5. Call or text Joey Larsen at 904-863-6679 to set up tours of RiverTown, Tributary or both.

Cover photo: FruitCoveFLPark by Excel23, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.