Miami-based JDM Realty Group is moving forward with plans for a new 300-unit apartment community along Yates Road next to Kissimmee’s Shingle Creek Regional Park.
JDM Principal David Egozi told GrowthSpotter Shingle Creek Bay would be one of the first market-rate apartment communities to be built along Yates Road. “We like very much that Shingle Creek Park is adjacent to us, and we found that as a nice amenity,” he said. “After COVID, there’s been a big demand from people wanting to be more outdoors.”
Egozi said JDM is under contract to purchase the 13.5-acre site from Orlando Developer Bob Kaplus, who bought it in 2021 for $875,000. They worked with Kaplus to secure approvals in 2022 for a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning to Commercial Tourist, which allows up to 40 dwelling units per acre.
Because the property lies within the boundary of the W192 CRA district, the developer must submit a conceptual site plan showing compliance with the district’s design guidelines prior to filing construction plans. Those guidelines require building placement along Yates Road with parking interior to the site. There’s also on-street parallel parking on both sides of Yates Road.
The plan from Rj Whidden & Associates shows five residential buildings, each four stories tall, with a clubhouse, pool and playground in the center of the property and walking trails around the perimeter and encircling the pond. The complex will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. “We submitted a unit mix, but we’re not married to it,” Egozi said. “It’s still very preliminary.”
Egozi said the plan was designed with a fairly large setback and landscape hedge between the apartment buildings and the single-family homes along the western property line. “If you see our site plan, we took that highly into consideration, which is why you don’t see any buildings butting up to single-family homes,” he said.
The developer engaged Scott + Cormia for architecture and interior design. Orlando-based Highland Engineering is the civil engineer. Egozi said they expect to break ground sometime in early 2024.
Shingle Creek is one of two active projects JDM has underway in Central Florida. The firm has also filed development plans for a mixed-use project in Oviedo composed of 196 apartments and 15,000 square feet of commercial. That project is located at 1360 Alafaya Trail.
Kaplus also rezoned the adjacent 40-acre property to the south that is now home to two affordable housing developments in the city of Kissimmee. Kapuls subdivided the parent parcel into two multifamily lots, selling the southern 18.3 acres to Dominium Partners. The Minneapolis-based developer will open the 331-unit Heron Ridge affordable housing community for seniors 62+ this year.
Orlando-based Banyan Development Group is approved for $37.3 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and SAIL financing for Rosewood Pointe, which would add 192 units of affordable workforce housing in Kissimmee on 11.6 acres just south of the Shingle Creek Bay property. Banyan paid $3.25 million for the property in May 2022. The financing agreement requires Banyan to set aside 29 units for Extremely Low-Income residents and residents with special needs.
Birdsong Housing Partners also received tax credits and gap financing from Osceola County to add a second phase to Cameron Preserve, which is also on Yates Road. The first phase was completed in 2019 and created 100 affordable units for low- and very-low-income families. Phase two will add 80 more units.
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