- November 1, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
A total of 233 new multifamily units will be constructed in Town Center next to Epic Theatres. Of those, 83 will be age restricted.
Some will be workforce housing.
"This really will kickstart our downtown. I think it will add a lot of value, and I think it will incentivize further growth."
MILISSA HOLLAND, Palm Coast mayor
“We know, anecdotally, that there’s a tremendous need for those opportunities within Palm Coast,” Ida Meehan, a senior planner with the city, told the City Council at its meeting Feb. 5 before the council voted unanimously to approve a master site plan for the development.
City Councilman Jack Howell said he wanted to make it clear to the public that “affordable housing” and “workforce housing” do not refer to HUD programs like Section 8.
“Workforce housing is for the new police officer, the new fireman, the young professional who’s getting their start,” he said.
Interim City Manager Beau Falgout told the City Council during the meeting that the property is already zoned for multifamily residential use.
Proposed apartment complexes have drawn opposition from nearby residents in the past. But this one, which has no single family homes nearby, drew no opposing speakers at the meeting.
"This is a good start; we need to keep going. If we don’t have housing, we will not get companies to come to our city and invest in our city."
— MIKE COCCHIOLA, Palm Coast resident
Developer Atlantic Housing Partners also built the Brookhaven community and Palm Coast Landings.
The Town Center development will be placed on a 27-acre site, but only nine of those acres will be used for construction, according to city staff members. The rest is conservation land.
The apartment complex will include a clubhouse and a dog park, Meehan said.
Although the development has various sections, “It’s presented as one integrated development,” Meehan said. “It has maintained an overall architectural theme.”
The location is “where the DRI and the master planned development encourages the most intense development within Town Center,” Meehan said.
Entrances and exits to the new development, she said, will be through two existing driveways on Central Avenue.
Howell asked if the development, which will include a four-story buildings, will have elevators, and whether it will have on-site maintenance staff.
Marc Gauthier, representing Atlantic Housing, said that it will.
“The big thing is the maintenance of these facilities, so that they don’t get run down,” Howell said. “You’re right on the target; I’m glad to hear that.”
Atlantic Housing Partners’ Scott Culp said the development will include some homes reserved for tenants making less than the median income, while others will be market rate. Workforce housing, he said, is transformative for families, freeing up money that they can use to afford other things.
Resident Mike Cocchiola said he was in favor of the new development.
“This is a good start; we need to keep going,” he said. “If we don’t have housing, we will not get companies to come to our city and invest in our city.”
The next step in the process will include approval of a development order and a technical site plan.
“This really will kickstart our downtown,” Mayor Milissa Holland said. “I think it will add a lot of value, and I think it will incentivize further growth.”
