Ranch residents should prepare for more urbanism

The CEO of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch made it clear Oct. 12 there’s always been a plan in place to make the Ranch an urban development with a variety of offerings.

“People who work here need to be able to live here,” said Rex Jensen, during the Lakewood Ranch Jewish Club’s “A Glimpse into the Future” forum Oct. 12, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. “If they lived here, they wouldn’t leave.”

Jensen fielded a question about a possible change in nature in Lakewood Ranch — one in which the community may feature a more “urban” setting.

He said a plan for urban development has been in place since 1991 and that SMR has been trying to incorporate more residential units into its plan that are priced lower than single-family homes.

Jensen estimated that 3,000 of the 12,000 employees in the Lakewood Ranch area live within the community, a figure he believes factors into the area’s traffic issues.

“There’s going to be more intense housing here,” Jensen said. “Sorry. There’s not much more I can say.”

Regarding concerns about the proposed seven-story residential building just north of Lakewood Ranch Cinemas on Main Street in the University Lakes Development of Regional Impact, Jensen said the developer needed to add more units to reduce the square footage of each unit to lower their prices.

There were originally 56 units planned for four stories of the building. At that rate, each unit would be near $1 million, Jensen said. Adding three stories and 24 more units to the plan would reduce the size of the unit and bring the price to around $550,000 to $600,000.

“To make those numbers work, they need to get a few more units,” Jensen said. “They need to be able to go up because they can’t go out.”

Incorporation issue
The question of incorporation arose at the Oct. 12 Jewish Club meeting, and SMR CEO Rex Jensen said it’s a choice that remains up to citizens.

“Personally, I’m not too enthusiastic about incorporation,” said Jensen, adding that Lakewood Ranch would only become its own city if residents persuaded legislators in Tallahassee.

If the citizens demonstrated a strong desire to incorporate, Jensen said he would support their choice.