Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Upscale townhomes, Habitat project up for votes

The Dunedin City Commission will consider both at a meeting today.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 17, 2008

A computer rendering shows the proposed Shady Grove Townhouses development, a 19-unit affordable housing project by Habitat for Humanity.
	[Handout]

ADVERTISEMENT [Handout] A computer rendering shows a front view from Bayshore Boulevard of the upscale Alinda Villas.

DUNEDIN - An upscale townhouse development delayed by the slumping real estate market is now back before the City Commission for approval.

Alinda Villas, a 13-unit townhome development planned for Bayshore Boulevard and Wilson Street, was first approved by the commission in 2005.

However, the real estate market took a turn for the worse before the project began. Because construction didn't begin within a year of the commission's approval, owner and developer Louis Leousis had to bring the project before the commission again.

City commissioners will vote on the project's final site plan at today's 6:30 p.m. meeting in City Hall Chambers, 542 Main St.

Leousis said he's hoping the market will improve by the time the first building is complete. Two buildings are planned.

"We're basically timing the market," he said. "Gosh, I wish I had a crystal ball. We believe the market will bottom out mid year."

With rooftop terraces and an elevator in every unit, the development will be different, Leousis said. Units will be 3,000 or 2,600 square feet and be priced between $400,000 and $500,000. Three units have already sold, he said.

Also Thursday, the City Commission will vote on Habitat for Humanity's preliminary site plan to build 19 affordable townhomes on the southeast corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Howell Street.

The empty site formerly housed Highlander Village, a 20-unit Dunedin Housing Authority project. Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County used a county grant to buy the land. The new project will be called Shady Grove Townhomes.

Habitat for Humanity provides a home ownership program with several eligibility standards. For example, a family of four must have a yearly income between $16,400 and $43,500 to be eligible. The future homeowners must also help build their home.

Homes will be about 1,300 square feet with three bedrooms and a single-car garage, according to Jamie Cataldo, spokeswoman for Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County.

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at tel-khoury@sptimes.com or 727 445-4181.

Fast facts

To learn more

- For more information on Alinda Villas, visit www.alindavillas.com or call Louis Leousis at (727) 647-0482.

- For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County, visit www.phfh.org or call (727) 536-4755.

[Last modified January 16, 2008, 23:55:56]