WELLINGTON, Fla. (CBS12) — The Lotis developers are once again facing the Wellington Village Council, after making some changes to their original plans.
More retail, restaurants, and residential housing have been in the works for Wellington as part of a two-phase project known as Lotis Wellington. But after many delays, the developers are rethinking their original idea to include senior living in the project.
The Lotis developers are once again facing the Wellington Village Council, after making some changes to their original plans, CBS12’s Katie Bente reports. (WPEC)
Lotis representatives asked the council for approval in December’s meeting, but board members were uncomfortable with the change. They returned on Wednesday night with adjustments that sweetened the deal.
“What I do hear from residents every day, is that they want these restaurants, they want this retail, they want the parking garage, they want these commercial things to happen so that there is more life here,” Wellington Village Councilman John McGovern said.
That’s exactly what the two-phase Lotis project is set to be, with residential housing, medical offices, entertainment hot spots like Pop Stroke mini golf and the list goes on. But where they once planned to build housing for both independent and assisted living, they now want to replace it with nearly 200 market-price apartments.
The Lotis Wellington development is a two-phase project set to include residential housing, medical offices, entertainment hot spots like Pop Stroke mini golf and the list goes on. But where they once planned to build housing for both independent and assisted living, they now want to replace it with nearly 200 market-price apartments. (Lotis Development)
“So, I looked at this and I said to myself, alright if this project had come to me initially, would I have approved it? And I know for certain there’s no way. There’s no way I would have said yes to 372 multifamily units, 165 of which are one-bedroom because the way I look at it, the only market that really matters to me is the long-term market. What does this look like in 15 years,” Wellington Village Councilman Michael Drahos said. “I said last month. I’m going to reiterate that point tonight. I plan to live in Wellington for the rest of my life. I don’t want to drive past this and say on this responsible for that.”
“The way you’ve restructured it, I can support this change even though really was a hard no. But I think this is I think I can’t keep thinking the way you should think about rental communities because I do think there are people, there are affluent people who want to rent through the long term. It’s not just what some people think, is your lower income people. There are people at all price points, who want to rent,” Wellington Village Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone said.
See also:Man shot, killed ‘execution-style’ outside apartment complex near Roosevelt Middle School
The project is being built on a 64-acre piece of land along State Road 7, just north of Wellington Regional Medical Center.
The Lotis Wellington development project is being built on a 64-acre piece of land along State Road 7, just north of Wellington Regional Medical Center. (Google Earth)
“We do need people to be able to come in and work at the hospital and work in these offices, these medical offices particularly, and have a place to move to when they get here,” Wellington Village Mayor Anne Gerwig said.
While the change sparked controversy, it also allowed the developers to build a larger public park right in the center of phase one. It’s something Mayor Gerwig said she was thrilled to see.
“I think it’s an attractive plan. I feel like it’s an improvement. That I think I was I was looking for that green space that attracts the communication center of it, that supports the commercial and makes it different than, you know, a strip center along 441,” Gerwig said.
“This this is while maybe not perfect, it is a project that brings us some of the things that our residents are saying that they want,” McGovern said.
The Lotis Wellington development is a two-phase project set to include residential housing, medical offices, entertainment hot spots like Pop Stroke mini golf and the list goes on. But where they once planned to build housing for both independent and assisted living, they now want to replace it with nearly 200 market-price apartments. (Lotis Development)
Changes will increase the multi-family residential dwelling units from 191 to 378 units, increase medical office space from 40,000 to 50,000 square-feet, dedicate nearly an acre of land to conservation park use, and add a dog park within the recreation area.
The village council voted 4-1 to approve the changes and move forward with the project.
Phase one of the Lotis project is already under construction and expected to take roughly 18 to 24 months to complete.
