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Dunedin clears staff to negotiate development agreement for Flats on Main Street affordable housing project
Summary
The commission gave staff preliminary approval to negotiate a development agreement with Archway Partners for a new affordable housing project that secured 9% low-income housing tax credits; commissioners emphasized timing, safety and design review steps.
The City Commission on Feb. 6 gave staff preliminary approval to begin negotiating a development agreement with Archway Partners for the Flats on Main Street project, an affordable housing development proposed near State Road 580 and Carnation Drive. Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize staff to negotiate terms; the item will return for formal approvals, including design review and ordinance adoption.
City staff — including Economic Development Director Bob Ironsmith and Community Development Director George Kenny — told the commission the development relies on multiple local incentive provisions in the land development code: a 50% affordable housing density bonus, a waiver of parkland impact fees and a reduction to the public art requirement. Archway Partners’ representative, identified in the meeting as Dave Haseff, said the project had been awarded 9% low-income housing tax credits, a state financing source that creates firm deadlines for closing; Haseff told the commission that closing on the tax credits must occur by Dec. 31 and that the development team needs a predictable municipal approvals timeline to preserve the financing.
Commissioners asked about safety and access. The developer said it will perform a CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) analysis, incorporate CCTV and on-site management, and coordinate with the city fire department on access from Carnation Drive. Staff also said a traffic-impact analysis will inform site access and any needed local street improvements.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing on this agenda item. Commissioners expressed broad support for the affordable housing objective, noting the community need; some members asked staff and the developer to consider site access, emergency access and design details during the forthcoming design-review process.
Motion and vote: The commission voted unanimously to authorize staff to negotiate a development agreement with Archway Partners. The motion was made and seconded from the dais; the item will proceed through standard processes: development agreement, design review and ordinance adoption.
Why this matters: The project uses the municipality’s affordable housing incentives and state 9% low-income housing tax credits; those credits make timing and coordination with the city essential to preserve the financing. Commissioners described the project as a needed local response to housing affordability while noting that additional approvals and technical reviews remain ahead.
