Community First Credit Union has closed on a vacant 1.14-acre property at the corner of Blanding Boulevard and Henley Road in Middleburg, clearing the way for a new full-service branch in the heart of central Clay County's main retail corridor. The credit union paid an undisclosed price for the land on August 7, and the sale had not yet been recorded by the Clay County Clerk of Court as of August 10.
The purchase was first reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record, which detailed the transaction and the credit union's broader growth plans across Northeast Florida. Ferber Co. sold the property to Community First, with Kaelyn Cassidy and Ricky Ostrofsky of Franklin Street representing the seller and Jonathan Heldenbrand, managing partner of Proper Capital & Real Estate, representing Community First in the deal. The credit union is still in the early stages of developing the site, and no construction timeline or opening date has been determined.
Community First Credit Union of Florida is a state-chartered credit union based in Jacksonville with $3 billion in assets, roughly 194,000 members and more than 450 employees, serving anyone who lives or works on the First Coast. The Middleburg project would be its 25th location, following growth from 19 branches in 2022 to 24 today, and it already serves more than 17,000 members in Clay County alone.
A Neighborhood Branch Members Have Wanted for Years
Sam Inman, president and CEO of Community First, said the new site will finally put a full-service branch where residents already shop and run errands. “Middleburg members will have a full-service credit union branch in the heart of their retail corridor,” Inman said, according to the same report, adding that members have asked for a neighborhood location for many years.
The planned branch will follow Community First's now-familiar freestanding prototype: a 3,100-square-foot building with a drive-thru, two ATMs and the credit union's signature tower design, matching the layout used at its other new sites. In Clay County, Community First already operates established branches at 625 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park and at 2004 East West Parkway in Fleming Island, the latter of which opened in 2000, following seven decades of presence in the county, per CareerSource Northeast Florida.
Part of a Broader Multi-County Expansion
Middleburg is just one piece of a much larger buildout. Community First is also developing another Clay County location in Green Cove Springs, where it secured a 1.35-acre parcel at 327 N. Orange Ave. in December 2024 to build a similar 3,100-square-foot branch. Beyond Clay County, the credit union is constructing locations in Murray Hill in Jacksonville and the Wildlight community in Yulee, both scheduled to open in late 2026, and has plans for additional branches in Treaty Oaks in St. Johns County and Fernandina Beach, alongside an already-opened Callahan branch.
The Murray Hill project, in particular, shows Community First is willing to deviate from its standard prototype. The credit union acquired the former Edgewood Bakery building for $1.675 million in October 2024 and filed permits for a $3 million renovation that will include an outdoor plaza, a food vendor space and a community room, as the Jacksonville Daily Record reported separately in December 2025. In Fernandina Beach, meanwhile, Community First purchased a 1.37-acre lot at 2000 Sadler Road in March 2026 to build another freestanding branch with a drive-thru and tower design, according to Nassau NewsLine. The credit union also broke ground in January on a 3,100-square-foot Wildlight branch in Yulee, its third in Nassau County, a project being built by Auld & White Constructors.
Why Middleburg, and Why Now
The Middleburg expansion tracks with fast-moving change along central Clay County's commercial spine. All lanes of the First Coast Expressway, a roughly 28-mile toll road with seven interchanges, are now open through the county, a milestone that has helped fuel commercial retail and residential growth along corridors like Blanding Boulevard, according to the JAXUSA Partnership. The full multi-county expressway system is not expected to be finished until 2030.
Affordability is also pulling new residents westward. Clay County's median single-family home price sat at roughly $365,000 in April 2026, well below the $587,000 median in neighboring St. Johns County, drawing relocating buyers from Duval and St. Johns counties toward communities like Middleburg. On the ground, Community First won't be the only credit union competing for those new residents' business: VyStar Credit Union already operates two full-service branches on Blanding Boulevard, at 1768 and 2762 Blanding Blvd., according to the Clay County Chamber of Commerce.
Community First has deep roots in the district beyond banking services. It sponsors the “Community First School of the Month” program with Clay County District Schools, an outreach effort tied to its origins as a local teachers' credit union. The institution's growth has also drawn industry recognition; the Jacksonville Business Journal reported that Community First earned Credit Union of the Year honors from the League of Southeastern Credit Unions and Affiliates after posting a 20.1% deposit increase and a 50% jump in commercial lending in 2020, a milestone in the credit union's 87-year history.
The Middleburg announcement also comes amid heightened scrutiny of check fraud targeting local financial institutions. Hoodline previously reported on fraud charges tied to a counterfeit-check scheme that included ATM deposits made at Community First and VyStar Credit Union branches across Northeast Florida, underscoring the security stakes as both institutions expand their physical footprints in the region.
