Developer of Grand Palms proposes copycat project in East Bradenton

City officials continue to tout the quality of the Grand Palms 55-and-over senior housing project in the 1700 block of 14th Street West, which has been one of the few success stories in affordable housing tax-credit applications within the city. So much so, they hope a second one can be built in East Bradenton.

Grand Palms qualified for the credits, which investors purchase as a means of obtaining finance for a developer, in May 2016.

The same developer, Ohio-based Jonesboro Investments Corp., wants to do a similar project at 315 18th St. E. The 4.5 acres of vacant land is zoned urban commercial corridor, but with only 50 feet fronting Manatee Avenue and the Florida Department of Transportation refusing to allow access from that point, commercial development of the property has been difficult to promote.

On Wednesday, Bradenton City Council approved an amendment to the future land use map to rezone the property high residential to accommodate Jonesboro president Tim Morgan’s latest tax-credit attempt. The deadline to file the application with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation is next month. Planning and Community Development Director Catherine Hartley said the proposed project is essentially a copycat version of the Grand Palms, which is a 72-unit facility currently under construction.

“It’s almost a copy and paste, it’s just turned around a little,” Hartley said.

The property is owned by Scott Tibbetts and was last valued at approximately $350,000, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser website. The sale to Morgan is contingent on a successful tax-credit application.

“We’ve had multiple parties wanting to do something commercial, but it’s odd shaped and because FDOT won’t allow a curb cut off Manatee Avenue, nothing has moved forward,” Hartley said. “This applicant is the same gentleman doing Grand Palms and I’m glad he’s bringing another project forward.”

Ward 4 Councilman Bemis Smith expressed concern over potential traffic issues if the access into the facility would be off of 18th Street. Smith said a lot of children walk to school on that road.

Hartley estimates peak traffic would be about 22 additional cars at the most, which is substantially less than what a commercial development would involve.

“Right now under the zoning it could be 140,000 square feet of commercial, so it’s pretty much a wash when you think about what kind of traffic would be on 18th if that happened,” she said. “Everyone is impressed with the quality of the building on 14th as opposed to other things going up around town. It’s all concrete block. He didn’t have to do that.”

If the project is successful and mirrors Grand Palms, then expect prices to be around $660 for one-bedroom apartments and $787 for two bedrooms. Amenities could include secure building access, resident storage lockers, game and exercise rooms, a spacious clubhouse and a library and Internet lounge.

The anticipated opening for Grand Palms is early 2018. According to area leasing sites, the property will be managed by Royal American Management and leasing information is available by calling 844-326-0023 or 844-836-2093.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Developer of Grand Palms proposes copycat project in East Bradenton."