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Complex issues: New Port Richey ponders proposal

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BY KLINT LOWRY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: October 18, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - City Council approved a first reading of an ordinance at its Oct. 7 meeting that would pave the way to the development of a 27.7-acre site into an upscale apartment complex.

Before they did, however, they heard from some residents who live near the site who aren't too keen on the idea of a large apartment complex in their neighborhood, upscale or not.

The second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 21.

The site in question is west of U.S. 19, north of Marine Parkway. It is bordered on the west by Sea Forest Drive, and includes seven acres of wetlands. It is surrounded by several existing condominium complexes and high-end single family homes.

The site was annexed to the city in 2005. A plan was approved at the time for the owner of the property, The Ryland Group, to build a 500-unit condominium complex, consisting primarily of six multistory residential buildings surrounded by various amenities and landscaping.

That plan never got off the drawing board, and now Ryland wants to sell the property to Alliance Residential, one of the largest apartment building and management companies in the country.

Alliance has a plan to develop the site into a 388-unit gated apartment complex called Broadstone Gulf Harbors, consisting of 14 three-story residential buildings. Apartments in the complex would range from $800-a-month efficiencies to three-bedroom units that would rent for $1,450 a month.

The Broadstone Gulf Harbors plan would utilize the same entranceways as the Ryland design. A 20-foot buffer zone would ring the outer edge of the development and a 9-foot retaining wall would run along the eastern edge of the property, where it would abut an existing condominium complex.

Michael Ging, managing director for Alliance's office, was on hand to address questions and concerns. As it turned out, there were more than he might have been expecting, as several residents who live near the site came to the meeting to voice their concerns and objections.

Arguably the most overriding objection was the hardest to quell, as it was one of perception. Vic Huebner was the first to voice a concern that was repeated by several of his fellow residents who had come to the meeting.

This is a relatively expensive part of town whose residents have invested in condos and private homes. Many chose this location to spend their retirement.

"It kind of looks to me with the low prices that I've seen advertised that you're looking for low-income and middle income renters," Huebner said. "Renters don't have the same impetus to keep up the quality as the people who actually invested their money."

With an average rent of $1,075 a month, Ging replied, the target customers for this complex will be young professionals, families and retirees. There are also many health-care professionals who work in the area who make decent incomes and a notable lack of suitable rental opportunities for them in the area.

"This will be the nicest, highest-rent apartment community in the whole western Pasco county region and the north Pinellas County region," Ging said. Alliance has onsite management teams at all its properties and a vested interest in maintaining their quality, he added.

Several residents were concerned about the effects any development would have on the area. Chief among those was traffic on Sea Forest Drive.

A 2005 study conducted for the Ryland condo project, however, concluded the 500 condos would add 225 vehicles to peak hour afternoon traffic. Sea Forest Drive is a county road, and county traffic engineers considered that increase to be within acceptable levels. With fewer units, the apartment complex would only add an estimated 175 peak-hour vehicles.

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