Work begins on 130-lot residential project in busy East Bradenton development area

BRADENTON -- Heavy equipment operators this week broke ground on 34 acres in East Bradenton for yet another project that had laid dormant through the Great Recession.

According to Planning & Community Development Director Tim Polk, infrastructure work at the 130-lot Cottages of San Lorenzo off of 48th Street Court East has begun following the city council's approval of the final plat.

While different builders are involved, the Cottages at San Lorenzo is the second phase of the recently constructed Villas at San Casciano, which celebrated its grand opening in January and is directly to the north of the new development site. San Lorenzo sits between San Casciano and ongoing construction of the Blue Heron Apartments just off of State Road 64 to the south.

"This has been in place for some seven or eight years," said Polk. "They started to develop San Casciano a couple of years ago and decided to begin San Lorenzo now."

Polk said the area in general is "revving up," considering nearby projects that all sit in between the Harbour Isle project and the Tidewater Preserve development.

"The San Lorenzo development is interesting because it's geared toward the first-time home buyer or for the person ready for their next move up," said Polk.

Signs at the site signal future home prices beginning at about $200,000. According to the site plan, the average size lot is around 4,100 square feet, but some exceed 5,000 square feet. While infrastructure work has begun, Polk said actual house designs continue to be reviewed by the city.

"We'll get the builder in,

which is DR Horton, and talk about house designs because the city has some say so on that," said Polk. "We are going to make sure that all the buildings on that side of town continue to have a standard of excellence in terms of design and character, no matter the price point."

Polk said Tidewater Preserve, being constructed by WCI Communities, "has set the bar real high along with Medallion Homes. All those developments, no matter who builds them, will meet the same kind of standard. The main thing is that we have variety in what is being presented to the community, so there will be no cookie-cutter house designs. Those don't do anybody any good."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Work begins on 130-lot residential project in busy East Bradenton development area ."