From Staff Reports
In Summary:
Wendover Management has opened Southwick Commons, a 192-unit affordable apartment community at 520 Brighton Ave. The development moved forward after Wendover won a lawsuit challenging the city’s attempt to require market-rate, non-subsidized housing on the property and later clashed with officials over balcony designs. Its opening comes as the Orlando area has only 13 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.
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A development once stalled by a lawsuit, political opposition and a 90-minute debate over the meaning of “balcony” is now welcoming residents in Apopka.
Wendover Housing Partners has opened Southwick Commons, a 192-unit affordable multifamily housing community at 520 Brighton Avenue in Apopka. The development offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and is accepting applications.
Related: No more debates on balconies and left turn lanes; Apopka wants its City Center.
Monthly rents begin at approximately $1,103 for a one-bedroom apartment, $1,440 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,647 for a three-bedroom unit, according to Wendover.
The opening adds housing in a region with what the National Low Income Housing Coalition describes as the country’s most severe shortage for extremely low-income renters. The organization’s Gap Report found that the Orlando metropolitan area has only 13 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.
More than 80% of those renters are severely cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than half their income on housing and utilities, the report found.
“Access to stable and dignified housing at an affordable price remains a challenge for too many families across Central Florida,” said Ryan von Weller, chief operating officer of Wendover Housing Partners. “Southwick Commons was designed to help address that need while giving residents more than just a place to live.”
Apartments include Energy Star-certified appliances, dishwashers, ranges, microwaves, full-size washers and dryers, island kitchens and spacious floor plans.
Community amenities include a business center, playground, swimming pool, activity room, community garden, picnic pavilion and outdoor grills. Wendover said the Apopka location also gives residents access to schools, stores, parks, major roads and employment centers.
“We’re creating a community where residents can feel comfortable, supported and proud to call home,” von Weller said.
A development marked by conflict
Southwick Commons’ opening closes one chapter of a contentious development history dating to the City’s agreement with Taurus Southern Investments LLC to build the Apopka City Center.
In November 2021, the city sold approximately 12 acres at East Sixth Street and South Alabama Avenue to Taurus for $1.92 million. Taurus sold the property days later to Wendover Housing Partners for $3.25 million.
Wendover initially proposed a 195-unit, $52.8 million affordable housing development. The completed community contains 192 apartments.
The City Center development agreement, however, called for multifamily housing on the property to be “non-subsidized” and rented at market rates. The Apopka City Council rejected proposed changes that would have allowed Wendover’s affordable housing project to proceed, voting 3-2 against the changes in May 2022 and later rejecting the developer’s appeal by the same margin.
Wendover took the city to court and won.
The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court ruled that the city could not base land-use or permitting decisions on a development’s financing source. The court struck the requirement that apartments on the property be non-subsidized and rented at market rates and permanently barred the city from enforcing it.
The litigation followed Orange County’s September 2021 announcement that it would invest affordable-housing funds in several projects, including Southwick Commons.
The dispute did not end with the court ruling.
Wendover accused the city of continuing to delay the project during permitting. City officials and the developer later clashed over whether the project’s proposed balconies met the City Center development agreement.
Then-Community Development Director Jim Hitt argued that some proposed balconies did not provide usable outdoor space. Wendover disputed the city’s characterization, saying its plans included projecting balconies rather than railings installed flush against the buildings.
Related: Apopka Range War: Wendover pushes back on City's handling of Southwick Commons development.
The issue reached the City Council in June 2023, producing an extended discussion over balcony dimensions and what legally constituted a balcony.
Attorney Rebecca Wilson, representing Southwick Commons, told commissioners that one balcony design would be 1 foot deep and 7 feet, 4 inches wide, while another would be 5 feet, 8 inches deep and 15 feet wide.
“It is not a Juliet balcony, it is not a faux balcony, it may not be as large as people may like, but you know what, it may be large enough for the people who choose to rent here,” Wilson said during the meeting.
Wilson also argued that continued delays were keeping prospective residents from obtaining housing.
“What they’d like is to have a home and not have to wait another 18 months to break ground on this,” she said.
The council deadlocked 2-2 on a motion to approve the design, with one commissioner absent.
More than three years after those arguments and nearly five years after the property changed hands, Southwick Commons has reached the outcome that once seemed uncertain: The apartments are complete, applications are open, and residents are moving in.
Slocum Platts Architects designed the community, and VCC served as general contractor. Additional information and application details are available at SouthwickCommons.com.
Key Points:
- Southwick Commons contains 192 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
- Monthly rents begin at approximately $1,103, $1,440 and $1,647, depending on unit size.
- A court barred Apopka from requiring market-rate, non-subsidized housing on the property.
- The city and developer later spent months disputing the project’s proposed balconies.
- The community includes a pool, playground, business center, activity room and community garden.
About Wendover Management
Wendover Management, a part of the Wendover Housing Partners group of companies, is a privately held management firm established in 1995. Renowned as one of the Southeast’s leading housing companies, Wendover excels in managing multi-family apartment communities, affordable family and senior housing, workforce housing, student residences, and transit-oriented developments. Like the homes built by Wendover Housing Partners, Wendover Management’s property management approach is built on a strong foundation, ensuring meticulous attention to detail and the highest respect for residents, employees, and investors.
For more information, visit www.wendovergroup.com.
