What's going on along 301?
 

There is a large area that has been cleared along the west side of 301, north of Wildwood near 462 and across from Darryl's Diner.

Anyone have info about this? (Please no Costco, Trader Joe's, etc. rumors - unless they're true.)

I believe it is more apartments.

Did someone say Trader Joe's??? True? What is truth, really?

New apartments so that we'll continue to have people to take care of us in The Villages.

Primus
 

From a news paper we all know about…..

Wildwood commissioners Monday night approved the Twisted Oaks development, expected to have up to 1,210 homes on about 387 acres west of U.S. 301 and south of County Road 462 West.

Commissioners also approved an ordinance to establish a community development district to govern the project.

The development will be adjacent to Primus Pipe & Tube, a long-time Wildwood industrial business, and will include up to 165,000 square feet of commercial and industrial space along U.S. 301.

“This is going to be our largest project with the exception of The Villages within the city limits,” said development director Melanie Peavy.

And what is Melanie going to do with the 2,000 plus cars and trucks coming in and out of there onto 301 every day. Daryl's Diner should do pretty good once they're built.

Daryl’s already has a line outside pretty much every morning. Saturday after 9am usually 45 minute plus wait, Staff does as best as they can to get tables turned over. 2000 plus cars isn’t going to make Daryls store front any bigger, but square one and Winn Dixie will definitely benefit

Another round of 300 units of apartments. The days of quiet pastures with cows across from a Walgreens are long gone. Gotta make that $$$$$. Its sad imho. People who say its housing for future workers to take care of villagers... do the math. Those apartments won't be "affordable".

East County Road 462
 

The new construction is nice, but will they be able to fill those apartments? East 462 already has about 700 units opening in the area, not to mention the new homes going in also. The surplus of rental units should bring down prices pretty well across the board.

1200 plus homes should make the Crime Reports more interesting! Hope the Reports include the Home purchase price…

Burned Bridges
 

Wildwood already burned their bridges with infrastructure, why not become the crime capital too?

Apartments

It's really terrible that Wildwood approves literally project that comes down the pike in their direction. There needs to be some land left, some trees and woods...... we didn't move to Orlando, but its starting to feel like we did.

Affordable in Florida? Will be "affordable" for people who live in S. Florida. Average 2/2 in S. Is over 2500 a month. Developers have 0 likelihood to build housing for the worker bees that are and/or will be needed.

I'm not sure what the other choices would be. TV needs service workers, and driving a significant distance for a low(er) paying job just isn't feasible, particularly if your income is limited to begin with.

It is a pretty sure bet though that a lot (most?) of these new apartments are going to be subsidized under Section 8, and HUD's guidelines as to who qualifies are pretty generous. According to hud dot gov, housing assistance is granted on a graduated scale according to income, as follows:

Extremely low income: $35,450.
Very low income: $59,100.
Moderately low income: $94,600.

Not bad, considering that these workers and their families will be coming from digs that are probably significantly less amenable to good living than a new (for awhile, anyway) apartment with on-site recreational facilities. Plus, if they have kids and as long as they retain their jobs in TV, said kids will be eligible to be educated at The Villages charter schools, which as I understand it is a pretty large leap in quality, for the most part, compared to what is offered in surrounding schools.

I'm not worried, as some are, about an increase in crime when these apartments are functioning. Law enforcement around here is pretty good at keeping the pressure on the small-time offenders and it is a pretty safe bet that law enforcement's numbers will be beefed up to handle any increase in petty crime. My worry is what happens if and when this-or-that worker quits or loses their job in TV. Will that be grounds for eviction? If not it isn't going to take long for fewer and fewer apartments being available for those who want to work in TV.