Contravest builder president and co-owner Steve Ogier answers his phone “it’s a great day to build apartments.”
And so it seems for the Altamonte Springs developer as well as the Davenport area near the Polk and Osceola county line. Luxury multifamily developer Contravest has a contract on 137 acres. It plans to build 310 apartments and luxury amenities on the approximately 31 buildable acres. The company expects to invest $58.8 million.
The project – called The Addison Lake Wilson is one of five projects and some of the 1,481 units Contravest has in development. The company has another 1,778 units in various stages of construction, Ogier told GrowthSpotter.
Contravest is buying the property from Orlando-based InvestFlorida Capital LLC with a closing date of June 15. Ogier expects to start construction July 1 and for it to take about 24 months.
“It’s a relatively low-density product,” Ogier said. “I could build a lot more units there, but we want to keep it at that size.”
About half of the apartments will be two-bed, two bath floorplans. The rest will be a mix of studios(17%), one-bedroom (27%) and three-bedroom units (8%). The project consists of mostly 3-story, elevator-served buildings with enclosed corridors. The rest will be in seven carriage buildings with two units each and garages on the bottom floor.
Ogier said amenities, I-4 access and proximity to shopping in the Reunion/ChampionsGate area will attract renters. Lake Wilson Road also is scheduled for expansion to four lanes likely after Addison Lake Wilson has some renters in place, Ogier said.
The location in Polk County offers a competitive advantage in the Four Corners submarket because its school impact fees are so much lower than neighboring Osceola County. Ogier said the land was also priced well because about 100 acres has conservation easements.
“We do have some severe site conditions that are offsetting the sale price,” which Ogier wouldn’t share because the deal hasn’t closed. He said the site was once an entire lake. It’s soft soil, he said. Contravest will use controlled modulus columns, some that will go down to 105 feet, to shore up the land for building.
“It is a good piece of dirt – meaning location wise,” Ogier said.” It’s a good market. Long term, we think it’s going to be a great play.”
The reward outweighs the risk, he said. Estimated cost of the project is $58.8 million. “We’ve done these types of improvements before. There is some risk associated with it but there’s a lot of risk in development.”
Addison at Lake Wilson’s will be similar in design as The Addison at Windermere, which Contravest continues to manage as a long-term investment. Both were designed by Charlan Brock Architects. The apartments themselves will include high-end materials, double masters for those units of two and three bedrooms.
Among the amenities is a 2-story, 10,000-square-foot clubhouse that will be attached to one of the buildings and the pool. “Residents will pay that premium to live in that amenity building,” Ogier said. “It’s a nice amenity for the residents to be able to walk down and go to the gym, get a cup of coffee, walk down and get a doggie biscuit.”
Inside the clubhouse will be a fitness center, business center, tanning salon, recreational and gathering space and a commercial-grade demonstration kitchen for resident use and property functions.
“We find this demonstration kitchen – residents love it,” Ogier said. “It shows well. We bring in chefs for cooking classes. Residents are able to rent it out and have dinner parties.”
A dog park and dog salon/wash also are planned for the community, he said. “Dog amenities are the number-one amenity in the apartment industry.”
Ogier estimated the average market rent would be about $1550, but that number could increase after the community is completed.
Contravest will be owner, developer, general contractor and property manager. Mark Wilson of Kimley-Horn’s Lakeland office is the civil engineer. Orlando-based Libra Design Group is the landscape architect.
