From plan to project

LAKEWOOD RANCH — In a matter of minutes, Todd Pokrywa went from having a vision on paper to a project he and the team at Schroeder-Manatee Ranch could develop after more than a dozen years of uncertainty.

Sarasota County commissioners unanimously approved a rezone petition and related ordinances for the Villages of Lakewood Ranch South development May 21.

Pokrywa, vice president of strategic affairs for SMR, Lakewood Ranch’s developer, has been working on the project since he joined the company in January 2003.

“This is like game seven of the Stanley Cup finals and winning in triple overtime,” said Pokrywa, a hockey enthusiast who grew up in Canada. “It was progress, but slow progress — a lot of turns and curves along the way.”

“Until (then), we didn’t have a project because of the obstacles,” he said. “Now, we believe the vision can practically be implemented. We are anxious to get started designing and planning.”

SMR’s Villages project has been in a holding pattern since 2002, when Sarasota County commissioners adopted the Sarasota 2050 Comprehensive Plan, regulations for future growth. Although the Villages was the first village-style project approved under 2050, it will become only the second project to come to fruition in 13 years under 2050 regulations.

The 5,500-acre project, located south and east of the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park in Sarasota, includes about 5,100 homes — compared with the roughly 8,500 homes already developed in Lakewood Ranch — as well as 390,000 square feet of commercial, office and retail space, 90,000 square feet of public/civic space, a new elementary school site and other features.

The ordinances approved by commissioners last week will allow SMR more flexibility as it develops the project, including:

• having two smaller commercial centers (one near the corner of Lorraine Road and University Parkway and another farther south in the project adjacent to the Long Swamp conservation area) instead of one larger commercial node for the whole development;

• having fewer required product types per neighborhood within the community (three compared with five);

• and allowing the option for an alternative elementary school site.

The approvals, which did not include any increases to development totals or changes in land uses, also translate into infrastructure improvements on the local transportation network. SMR has committed to extending Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Lorraine Road south to Fruitville Road and the construction of an east-west connector from Lakewood Ranch Boulevard along its southern boundary.

It also has pledged $7.5 million toward one of two road options to be determined by Sarasota County: an east-west connector across Interstate 75 from the Villages to Cattlemen Road, or an extension of Iona Road.

“We’ve committed to significantly more than our impacts,” Pokrywa said. “People need to be able to get in and out of the community. This is all going to help alleviate traffic concerns that have been discussed recently (for University Parkway and I-75). This and the diverging diamond (interchange improvements at University and I-75) will help the regional road network.”

Under SMR’s transportation agreement with Sarasota County, it first will extend Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. Clearing and grading of the roadway must be finished the same time as the construction of the first home. The road within SMR’s property must be finished by the time the 300th home is constructed, Pokrywa said.

The county will extend the road south after that.

Currently, Sarasota is working to identify the road’s alignment — a path that should be solidified over the next month, Pokrywa said.

The extension of Lorraine Road will come online either once 2,000 homes have been developed or when development occurs adjacent to Lorraine Road.

“We’ll really have some good alternatives for moving traffic through the community without having to rely on University Parkway and I-75,” Pokrywa said.

Pokrywa said SMR does not have a timeline for development, but plans to move forward as quickly as possible with planning.

Neighborhood development, Pokrywa said, likely will begin in the western portion of the project.

SMR could develop the Villages’ 12 neighborhoods itself or sell land with entitlements to other developers.

Whether SMR would incorporate more private gated communities, such as Esplanade, Central Park and the future age-restricted development of Del Webb at Lakewood Ranch — remains undetermined, Pokrywa said.

Infrastructure improvements for the Villages could start as early as 2015.

Project Break-down
• Residential: 5,144 dwelling units in 12 neighborhoods

• Commercial/office/retail: 300,000 square feet within two village centers plus an additional 90,000 square feet of additional neighborhood commercial uses

• Civic/public: 90,000 square feet

• Education: One elementary school site

BEHIND THE PROJECT
Schroeder-Manatee Ranch’s Vice President of Strategic Affairs Todd Pokrywa has been working on the Villages project since he came to work for SMR in January 2003.

An Urban Land Institute study solicited by SMR identified the property for development in December 1999. SMR unveiled its vision for the Villages of Lakewood Ranch South in 2001, and the Sarasota County Commission picked the project as a village test site for its 2050 growth plan in April 2003.

The county, however, did not approve the project’s development of regional impact application until May 2010. Since that time, SMR has been working to address development regulations that prevented it from developing the project.

“The vision over the course of this time hasn’t changed,” Pokrywa said. “It’s been trying to solve the labyrinth of 2050. With this approval, we now have the certainty we were seeking to move forward.”

BY THE NUMBERS

2-Number of village centers, or commercial areas, designated within the project

12- Number of neighborhoods within the project.

7-Number of lakes around which homes will be constructed

10 - Number of years that have passed since Sarasota adopted its 2050 Comprehensive Plan

40 - 40 Approximate percentage of homes within the Villages that will be considered workforce or affordable housing

5,490 - Number of acres in the mixed-use Villages project

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].