This exciting project sits on approximately 14.5 acres and consists of 260 4-story garden style apartments. It is located at the NWC of I-75 and Jacaranda Blvd. in Venice, FL.
Wow – this one, maybe more than all the others, is a true testament to our perseverance. We first started by assembling and successfully rezoning three different properties. Next up was permitting and upon us submitting for them, we were told by a transportation staff member, the County would not honor the access location specifically approved during our rezoning hearing. It was at that point, we had to decide whether to institute legal action or try to work with them to obtain access at a mutually preferred location by creating a 4th leg to an existing signalized intersection. The location was unavailable due to a limited access right of way line governed by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration restricting access for the purpose of keeping motorists moving after exiting I-75. Upon consulting with two different traffic engineers to see if they had any experience in ‘breaking’ a limited access line, we were told by both they did, and their advice was to run, and to run far and fast! Apparently, in their experience, these efforts often take years, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete, and there is no guarantee of success.
The County’s preferred access to the existing signal seemed logical and given their desire to get it done and the ultimate benefit to the project and community, we decided to work together and set off on a very arduous 18-month journey to ‘break’ the limited access line. After lots of hard work and even more perseverance, we’re proud to say we got it done!
The County, our project, and all the residents will be better off for it. It was no easy feat, but in the end, we felt it was the right thing to do, so we did it, and we’re glad we did. We have no doubt our new project will be a success for many years to come and we want to give a special shout out to Wood Partners, the best-in-class and top-in-the-nation multifamily developer, we decided to partner with on this very exciting project.
