Villages at Riverwalk progressing rapidly while legal battle continues

Villages at Riverwalk, the 521-unit rental complex in the 1000 block of Manatee Avenue East, is progressing rapidly.

Ed Vogler, attorney for the Bradenton Land Group — consisting of NDC Construction, ZNS Engineering and Atlanta-based Hatfield Development —said tenants could be welcomed by the middle of 2017.

“It’s extremely well-located and a tremendous improvement, in our view, to the neighborhood,” Vogler said. “It’s an exciting project.”

Though Bradenton Land Group has moved forward with construction, its legal woes are not over. A group of local residents, opposing the relocation of Glazier-Gates Park from the beginning, formed Stone Soup Community Unity and filed a lawsuit in early November 2015 to stop the relocation. The construction was delayed, but that suit was dismissed in May and work began shortly thereafter.

Stone Soup, backed by Cape Coral attorney Ralf Brooks, filed an appeal in June and an oral argument is scheduled for Jan. 18 before a three-judge panel in the Second District Court of Appeals in Tampa.

“We have been waiting a long time to tell the whole truth,” Stone Soup’s Barbara Elliott said.

A Stone Soup victory could undo all of the work to date, though the park, as it once was, is gone. The Bradenton Land Group went forward with construction with confidence, but Vogler acknowledged that any court proceeding is a serious matter.

“We take it very seriously,” Vogler said. “But we expect to prevail.”

As part of the development agreement, the developer set aside acreage on the property for a new city park. A public meeting was held in August to garner citizen input on what a new park will look like. City administrator Carl Callahan said those suggestions have been considered as conceptual design plans begin, which are expected to be presented soon to the city council.

The developer is paying for the park improvements, as well as eventual improvements to the historic Mineral Springs Park, which sits east of the development, but is not part of the construction project. Councilman Bemis Smith pushed for the developer to contribute $500,000 toward those improvements before the city approved the development in October 2015.

Callahan said the city will begin discussions on what those improvements entail as more details emerge on what the new city park will look like. Improvements at Mineral Springs are expected to include connectivity components to the eventual expansion of Riverwalk along Riverside Drive East. Callahan those discussions, too, would likely begin at some point in 2017.

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Villages at Riverwalk progressing rapidly while legal battle continues."