From Staff Reports
In Summary:
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta, and Wendover Housing Partners CEO Jonathan Wolf will mark Southwick Commons’ grand opening at 10 a.m. November 17. The 192-unit affordable apartment community received county funding and impact fee waivers, with 29 apartments reserved for extremely low-income households. The celebration follows years of conflict, including a successful legal challenge to market-rate housing requirements and a prolonged disagreement over balconies.
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A development that once brought Apopka and its developer into court will bring county, city, and housing leaders together Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting.
Related: Orange County helps fill gaps in affordable housing as residents await more options.
Southwick Commons, the 192-unit affordable apartment community at 520 Brighton Ave., will celebrate its grand opening at 10 am. November 17. The ceremony follows the community’s opening to residents earlier this year, closing another chapter in a project marked by years of legal battles and permitting disputes.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta and Jonathan Wolf, CEO of Wendover Housing Partners, are scheduled to deliver remarks.
The completed community also represents an investment in affordable housing by Orange County. Southwick Commons received $2 million from the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $1.3 million in impact fee waivers and $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding.
Developed by Altamonte Springs-based Wendover Housing Partners, the community serves households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Twenty-nine apartments are reserved for extremely low-income households earning at or below 30% of that benchmark, according to the county.
Rents start at $1,103 a month. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, picnic pavilion with grills, business center, community garden, activity room, community kitchen and an activity field for soccer and outdoor events.
A contentious path to completion
The celebration comes nearly five years after a land transaction that helped set the project’s disputed course.
In November 2021, Apopka sold approximately 12 acres at East Sixth Street and South Alabama Avenue to Taurus Southern Investments LLC for $1.92 million as part of the Apopka City Center development. Taurus sold the property days later to Wendover Housing Partners for $3.25 million.
Wendover initially proposed a 195-unit affordable housing development with an estimated cost of $52.8 million. But the City Center development agreement required multifamily housing on the property to be non-subsidized and rented at market rates.
In May 2022, the City Council voted 3-2 against changes that would have allowed the affordable housing proposal to proceed. The council subsequently rejected the developer’s appeal by the same margin.
Wendover challenged the restriction in court and prevailed. The Ninth Judicial Circuit Court ruled that the city could not base land-use or permitting decisions on the development’s financing source, struck the market-rate and non-subsidized requirements, and permanently barred the city from enforcing them.
The ruling cleared a significant obstacle, but disagreements continued during permitting. Wendover accused the city of delaying the project, and the two sides later clashed over whether proposed balconies satisfied the City Center development agreement.
Even the balconies became a battleground
The balcony dispute reached the City Council in June 2023, prompting an extended debate over dimensions, usable outdoor space and what constituted a balcony.
Then-Community Development Director Jim Hitt questioned whether some proposed balconies provided usable outdoor space. Wendover disputed the city’s characterization, maintaining that the plans included projecting balconies rather than railings installed flush against the buildings.
Attorney Rebecca Wilson, representing Southwick Commons, told commissioners that one design would measure 1 foot deep and 7 feet, 4 inches wide, while another would be 5 feet, 8 inches deep and 15 feet wide. She argued that the designs qualified as balconies and that continued delays were postponing housing for prospective residents.
The council deadlocked 2-2 on a motion to approve the design, with one commissioner absent. More than three years later, the completed community contains 192 apartments and has begun welcoming the residents whose housing once sparked those arguments.
Another milestone for county housing efforts
Orange County identifies Southwick Commons as the fifth affordable housing community supported by its Affordable Housing Trust Fund to open this year.
The others are the 104-unit Enclave at Canopy Park, 192-unit Whispering Oaks, 156-unit Barnett Villas and 90-unit Residences at Emerald Villas. Together with Southwick Commons, those communities contain 734 apartments.
Tuesday’s ceremony will recognize the finished development and the partnerships supporting it. For Apopka, it also marks the arrival of a community whose path from proposal to occupied apartments included a court ruling, divided council votes, and a prolonged argument over balconies.
The grand opening is scheduled for 10 am Tuesday, November 17, at Southwick Commons, 520 Brighton Ave., Apopka.
More information about the community is available at SouthwickCommons.com. Details about Orange County’s affordable housing initiative are available through its Housing for All program.
Key Points:
- Grand opening: The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 10 am Tuesday, November 17, at 520 Brighton Ave., following the community’s opening to residents earlier this year.
- Affordable housing: Southwick Commons serves households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income, with rents starting at $1,103 a month.
- County investment: Support included $2 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $1.3 million in impact fee waivers, and $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding.
- Legal history: Wendover prevailed in a lawsuit challenging the city’s requirement that apartments on the property be non-subsidized and rented at market rates.
- Permitting disputes: Disagreements continued after the court ruling, including a balcony design debate that produced a 2-2 council deadlock in June 2023.
