Palmetto Town Center

A new plan for residential and commercial development has just been proposed for downtown Palmetto. The full city block of 4th & 5th Streets and 10th & 9th Avenues is stated to be a project to happen over the next 5 years.

The project calls 6 phases with a combination of 28 store fronts and 88 one and two bedroom residential affordable housing units that will range in price of $160,000 to $200,000.

The residential units will be built on top of the commercial store fronts and will have a Key West/Florida style buildings with tin roofs, courtyards, benches and parking.

The plan is said to also include a possible $50,000 credit to any City employees that want to purchase a unit.

So, I think this is a great idea to build these unique types of buildings in Palmetto and give people the option to live and work close to Downtown. However, $160,000 to $200,000 price range? C'mon already! When are they REALLY going to build some REAL affordable housing in the area? You know, something along the lines of $125,000? That's affordable housing by many people's standards, especially people that work for the City or County. There are plenty of single family homes currently on the market listed between $160,000 and $200,000, so someone please tell me how offering a $160,000 to $200,000 condo as affordable housing makes any sense? And why buy a condo for the same price you can buy a single family home for? Unless you want something maintenance free, most people would rather have a single family home than a condo if they can get it for the same price.

I don't understand the logic some of these developers think they are using.

Source: North River News