A proposed affordable housing development in St. Johns County that received mixed reviews from Planing and Zoning Agency members will go for a final vote Tuesday before commissioners.
The project, called the Preserve at Wards Creek, would be located at the corner of State Road 16 and State Road 16A. The plan is for a $100 million multifamily development with 288 apartments that would be earning-restricted for 30 years.
The proposal faced some opposition from the public during the PZA meeting on Feb. 1. Some were put off by the general concept of affordable housing, but the main concern was adding so many homes on a 19-acre parcel in an area that has already seen significant residential growth in recent years.
In order to make the project more palatable to residents who are frustrated by congestion, the developer, Dominium, is offering about $7.5 million in road improvements.
Dominium Senior Development Associate Katessa Archer told the Business Journal that her company’s efforts will benefit the county by paying for the intersection improvements and getting them done sooner than they otherwise would.
She added that the improvements would be completed before the first residents move in.
It’s an enhancement that the developer was able to come up with after working with county and Florida Department of Transportation officials.
“They’re really the ones who helped us identify what could happen … at this specific intersection and what would be most beneficial in a time when so much other time and resources are going to trying to fix other areas of the county,” Archer said. “This is really just a good-faith effort to be responsive to the concerns that we heard from the community.”
Archer said doing such extensive transportation enhancements are not normal for Dominium projects, but they decided it was worth the investment.
“We felt it was a challenge that we could rise to because we were able to work through with FDOT, work through with the county,” she said.
Among the suggested improvements to the intersection are:
- Adding a through lane on SilverLeaf Parkway southbound
- Adding left turn lane S.R. 16 westbound
- Adding a through lane on S.R. 16 westbound
- Widening of S.R. 16A from intersection at S.R. 16 to the edge of housing development
The project is going before commissioners because the applicant is seeking a change in Future Land Use Map designation from Agricultural-Intensive to Residential-D with a text amendment limiting development to 15 units per net developable acre. It also needs a rezoning from Open Rural to Planned Unit Development.
With the proposed road work helping to alleviate some of the traffic concerns, Archer said the hope is that commissioners will see the Preserve at Wards Creek as a net positive for the county.
As property values and rents increase, Dominium expects its project to fill a need in St. Johns County. The units will have two to four bedrooms with rents ranging from $1,183 to $1,511, based on current economic data.
“This kind of housing is income- and rent-restricted housing for 30 years to folks who have to earn an income to live in our properties,” Archer said. “It’s not a voucher-based dependent project. Our residents are working, they’re living, they’re traveling to the county in order to serve existing residents there and simply cannot afford to live there.”
Archer pointed out that Dominium develops and manages its own properties.
While the Preserve at Wards Creek would be the first new project for Dominium in the county, it has acquired the Oaks at St. John apartment complex near Nease High School.
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