The City Commission’s goal of creating 500 additional affordable housing units by 2023 is coming to fruition. Today, we’re talking about 80 of them.
The Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency (LCRA) issued a $162,000 loan to Green Mills Group, a Fort Lauderdale-based developer building an 80-unit apartment complex in the Parker Street neighborhood on a 1.89-acre vacant lot (on the southeast corner of Parker St. + Stella Ave.).
Green Mills has asked the CRA for help on the development after projected costs rose over $16.2 million, leaving an $800,000 budget gap. While they requested a $324,000 loan (the cost at which the property was purchased), they will receive $162,000, which will be repayable over 17 years, if the City Commission gives their final approval.
Here’s why the loan will help:
- The apartment complex needs to be built in a certain layout that minimizes interference between the four-story building + adjacent electric transmission lines. The changes require a retaining wall (cost of $50,000) and increased landscaping along Parker St.
- There’s a need to construct an underground stormwater retention system.
- The decision to add eight, three-bedroom units to the complex in response to community requests has increased costs by ~$300,000. The original plans were to build an equal mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Green Mills will begin leasing apartments once construction starts in September, which is anticipated to take one year. It will be the company’s second affordable housing complex in Lakeland, as it currently owns + operates Aida Palms (which has ~700 families who have expressed interest in a unit, with a waiting list of ~100 individuals).
The LCRA’s idea behind building this complex is to continue future redevelopment in Midtown Lakeland.
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