Lennar nixes marina plans

RIVER STRAND — Talk of whether a commercial marina will be built in the Heritage Harbour community soon will come to an end.

Lennar Development, the community’s developer, is seeking county approval to eliminate a proposed 12-acre marina and 6,000-square-foot retail center from its River Strand project within Heritage Harbour. It wants to construct 11 single-family homes on the site, instead.

Russell Smith, vice president of land development operations for Lennar, said Lennar had planned for the original marina site to be owned and operated by an independent business, separate from Lennar.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of the site not being appropriate for a marina, but instead, when qualified marina operators looked at the cost of building a marina versus the potential revenues a marina would generate, it just proved to not be financially feasible,” Smith said. “Instead, we are planning to do a residential community on the property where the homeowners who live in that community will have access to private docks.”

The docks would not be open to other residents in Heritage Harbour. Lennar would use homeowners association documents to enforce the restriction.

The proposal also shifts construction of 85 dwelling units to a parcel south of Port Harbour Parkway. That property previously had been planned for a 600-bed assisted-living facility.

No density increase is proposed.

Heritage Harbour was first permitted more than a decade ago for up to 5,000 homes.

“As the development project progresses over time, we naturally make adjustments to changes in the market and new thoughts for better uses of the property,” Smith said.

The Manatee County Planning Commission endorsed the requests, which now go before the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners for approval.

The overall Heritage Harbour development of regional impact currently includes a two-phase approval for 5,000 residential units, 851,900 square feet of retail space, 170,000 square feet of office space, 300 hotel rooms, a 45-hole golf course and a 600-bed assisted-living facility, as well as the 462-slip marina, which would have offered wet and dry slips.

By the numbers
12 — In acres, size of the marina site

0 — Number of homes the proposal adds to the overall Heritage Harbour Development of Regional Impact

2 — Number of parcels impacted by the zoning request

11 — Number of homes proposed for the marina site

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].