Developer plans affordable housing communities
At a time of heightened demand for more affordable housing across Orange County, a Minneapolis-based developer recently closed on land just outside the Apopka city limits to build side-by-communities offering lower-rent options.
On Oct. 31, Dominium Development paid $4.7 million for 37 acres along Plymouth Sorrento Road, near the interchange of State Road 429 and State Road 515, where it will build 492 apartment units across two separate projects along the northwestern shore of Lake Standish.
The Mira would offer 312 workforce housing units, while The Waters would be an age-restricted community with 180 units.
The Orange County Commission approved the land-use change for the project in July, rezoning it from its original agricultural designation as part of a Citrus Rural District to a Planned Development with medium-density residential.
The commission also signed off on 14 waivers at the time, including a reduction of the setback to 75 feet from single-family properties and an increase in building height to four stories for the senior living component.
“I’m really pleased with this project,” County Commissioner Christine Moore said at the July 12 meeting. “It is so needed . ... As soon as that community hears about four stories overlooking Lake Standish on a hill, it will fill up the first day they open the applications. It’s a beautiful project.”
Matt Hodges, the development associate with Dominium, told GrowthSpotter construction should begin by the third or fourth quarter of 2023, with an anticipated completion about 23 months later.
“It’s still a total of two years before they’re ready for move-in,” Moore said at the meeting. “Anything we can do internally to get these processes and projects moving faster would be helpful.”
The county is in the midst of exploring policy changes aimed at expediting the county review process for multifamily projects.
Across unincorporated Orange County, 8,456 apartment units are currently under construction while another 17,914 are in the pipeline awaiting final approval.
Orange County needs about 55,000 additional apartment units by 2030 to meet demand, according to the Florida Apartment Association.
Publix to anchor 2 developments
Publix will anchor two planned mixeduse projects underway that involve putting multifamily housing next to a new shopping center, a concept local experts see as a growing trend.
In Apopka, the grocery store will move into nearly 50,000 square feet of retail space at the Shoppes at East Shore project led by Illinois-based WMG Development, according to city documents. That plan for 28 acres of property along Apopka Ocoee Road and West Keene Road calls for the construction of 224 apartment units to the north of the shopping plaza.
In Sanford, Publix will serve as the centerpiece for King’s Crossing, a shopping center with 75,000 square feet of retail space in the works by North American Development Group. That project is envisioned to serve as a gateway to Seminole County along S.R. 46 just northeast east of the Sanford Airport, and includes a 260-unit apartment complex at the eastern edge of the site.
North American Development Group — which has 25 other shopping centers across Florida with Publix anchoring nearly half — closed on the 28-acre property in early October for $5.5 million. Commercial real estate and brokerage firm NAI Realvest represented the seller, the family of Walter N King, in the deal.
The news for both properties signals more growth for Publix, which has opened nine new stores throughout the southeastern U.S. since Oct. 1 with four others expected to open by month’s end, according to its website.
The Lakeland-based company’s 1,313 store locations brought in $39.2 billion in sales through the third quarter of 2022. That represents a 10.7% increase compared to this same time frame last year.