Seven-story condo approval irks residents

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lakewood Ranch Main Street is getting ready to grow.

Developer Homes by Towne will move forward with a project to add up to 80 condominium units on a three-acre parcel behind Lakewood Ranch Cinemas.

Although the public raised objections to a proposal to raise the allowed building height on the property from five to seven levels (see sidebar), Manatee County commissioners voted 5-0 Nov. 6 to allow the change at its Planning Commission meeting.

Residents in neighboring communities, including Watercrest and Edgewater, said the seven-level buildings would be out of character for the suburban look and feel of Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods. They also worried the project would create too much traffic and would disturb a nearby bird habitat on Lake Uihlein.

Homes by Towne, developer of the Watercrest community, originally planned and received approvals to build 56 units in four five-level condominium buildings on the property. A glossy brochure used for marketing the project in 2006 showed floor plans ranging from 3,125 and 3,532 square feet.

“The market has obviously shifted,” said Kohn Bennett, president of Homes by Towne’s East Florida/West Florida Division. He said increased costs for steel and concrete, in particular, also have made the original concept financial unfeasible. “That product probably is not right for Main Street today.”

With its new building-height allowance, Homes by Towne will adjust its business plan, instead constructing up to 80 units in three buildings. The center building will have seven levels, while the buildings on either side each will have six units. Parking will be located on the first level with residences above.

Units likely will range from about 1,400 to 1,650 square feet, plus a few penthouses, Bennett said.

The project, which will have restricted access, will have amenities for residents as well, including a pool and outdoor kitchen.

“We’re very excited about the product and bringing it to Lakewood Ranch to finish Schroeder-Manatee Ranch’s original vision for Main Street and to bring the much-needed residential (component) to Lakewood Ranch,” Bennett said.

With approvals in hand, Homes by Towne now will begin engineering the project and submitting the appropriate documents to Manatee County. Then, it will work toward final design and construction drawings.

Bennett said the company hopes to break ground by mid-2015.

RESIDENT REACTION
Forty residents in neighboring communities, including Watercrest and Edgewater, said the seven-level buildings would be out of character for the suburban look and feel of Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods Nov. 6.

“It’s about greed, pure and simple,” said Watercrest resident Kathleen Grant.

Watercrest’s original homeowner, Connie McKenzie, said the decision would set precedent for taller buildings all along University Parkway.

“If you build those buildings, they’re going to stick out like sore thumbs,” she said.

Jack Kent, an Edgewater resident, said he did not believe commissioners should allow buildings higher than four stories.

“Town Center is not an urban area,” he said.