Ocala City Council members approved a request to rezone a new planned development on Tuesday evening, clearing the way for the construction of 480 apartment units, 48 townhomes, and 30,000 square feet of office space at the 56.66-acre site in southwest Ocala.
During its regular meeting on Tuesday, August 20, the Ocala City Council voted 4-0 to approve the Residences at Grand Oaks, a new community located approximately 850 feet north and 1,200 feet east of the intersection of SW 27th Avenue and SW 42nd Street in Ocala.
On Tuesday, agents representing the property owner, Ocala 42nd Street Residential, LLC, spoke on multiple topics related to the project.
W. James “Jimmy” Gooding III, of Gooding & Batsel, PLLC, said the project was “historically important” for the city, citing the significance of four-story buildings with elevators. Gooding credited some of the success at Lamplighter Legacy Apartments, which opened in downtown Ocala in March, to its elevators and other luxury amenities. He said luxury apartments were exactly what the city needs in that area.
Gooding and representatives from Kimley Horn, the engineer on record, also spoke of the benefits to the nearby El Dorado community, which was built in the “bottom of a basin.” They say the new development will take all of the stormwater and runoff away from that community, improving the situation for their neighbors to the north.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the head of the homeowner’s association for that community spoke highly of the developer, saying they had been “very accommodating” and were helping the community with its “severe flooding problem.”
The ordinance and rezoning request were introduced during the council’s first meeting this month. Last month, the Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval.
Although Ocala-News.com previously reported that the development was situated on a property around 52.46 acres in size, that figure represented only the residential portion of the community. The commercial area will be situated on 4.26 acres, bringing the total size of the plot to approximately 56.66 acres.
The rezoning changes the property from a planned unit development (PUD-07) to a planned development (PD). The plan is Phases 2 and 3 of the three-phase development that began with The Grand Oaks Town Center, which was built a decade ago.
Anchored by a Publix, that town center has seen the addition of several businesses over the years, including a 7-Eleven last November.
Originally, the second and third phases called for the development of 474 multi-family residences, as well as 30,000 square feet of office space.
The approved resolution allows the developer to build approximately 48 more townhomes and 6 more apartment units, bringing the community’s total to 528 residences.
The new development is comprised of several buildings that will house the townhomes and apartment units, as well as passive recreation areas, a community center, a pool, extended buffers along the northern boundaries of the site, and a commercial office building.
The property is comprised of several parcels that were annexed into the city in 1989. Over the years, the site has undergone several zoning and comprehensive plan amendments.
In October 2023, the property owner presented site plans to neighbors showing the next phases of the development. Those plans went through multiple rounds of review by city staff, and multiple rounds of review and voting by the Ocala City Council and Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission.
The property has “vested transportation concurrency from an approved Chapter 163 Development Agreement” that allowed for the shopping center, the residential units, and the commercial office space to be built, regardless of the council’s recommendation.
According to Kimley-Horn, the developer has made several improvements to the area, many of which were not specified in the original agreement. That includes the addition of a signal to the main entrance of the plaza.
Ocala City Council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at Ocala City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue).
