More than a 'Common' project: Development bringing much-needed housing to downtown DeLand

Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal
·4 min read
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DELAND ― Just what are several four-story-tall elevator shafts standing on a construction site in the heart of this city's historic business district being built for?

They are part of a project called DeLand Commons that will bring much-needed housing as well as more retail space to downtown DeLand.

The project broke ground in February on the former Save-A-Lot site at 221 S. Woodland Blvd. The discount grocery store closed in May 2021. It was torn down this past January. The property is between the Artisan Downtown Hotel and Ace Hardware of DeLand.

Here's what we know about the project.

Vertical construction is underway on the DeLand Commons project at 221 S. Woodland Blvd. in downtown DeLand. The four-story building will have apartment units on the upper floors and retail storefront space on the ground level along Woodland. The project by Atlantic Housing Partners is expected to be completed some time in 2024.
Vertical construction is underway on the DeLand Commons project at 221 S. Woodland Blvd. in downtown DeLand. The four-story building will have apartment units on the upper floors and retail storefront space on the ground level along Woodland. The project by Atlantic Housing Partners is expected to be completed some time in 2024.

It will offer 'market rate' apartments and townhomes

DeLand Commons will include 180 housing units and 11,000 square feet of street-level retail facing Woodland, confirmed Mark Watts, managing partner of Cobb Cole Law Firm. Watts is the land-use attorney representing the project's developer, Winter Park-based Atlantic Housing Partners.

Watts said the housing units will be mostly "market-rate" apartment units along with five townhomes and two carriage houses. The apartments will be on the complex's top three floors above the retail spaces. The townhomes will be on the property's south end. The carriage houses will be above single-car garages behind the townhomes. The project will include surface parking.

The project's retail space can either be divided into up to 11, 1,000-square-foot storefront units or leased as one big 11,000-square-foot unit.

Wayne Carter, executive director of MainStreet DeLand, said DeLand Commons is exactly the kind of project his group has been pushing for.

"We've been working for several years to get more residents living downtown," he said. "People who live downtown tend to spend money downtown."

Chris Graham, a spokesman for the city, said, "The goal has always been to get residents to our downtown so they can walk to entertainment and restaurants and do shopping. It's a great in-fill project. It's something that's needed."

Elevator towers can be seen at the DeLand Commons project in downtown DeLand.
Elevator towers can be seen at the DeLand Commons project in downtown DeLand.

It's being built thanks in part to incentives

According to an agreement with the city's Community Redevelopment Agency signed on Feb. 2, Atlantic Housing Partners ― doing business as DeLand Commons Partners Ltd. ― could receive economic incentives worth up to $3.5 million. The money will be in the form of reimbursements of 90% of the taxes collected from the project in the first few years following its completion.

The incentives were used to encourage the creation of "in-fill housing" on an under-utilized downtown property.

To earn the incentives, the developer must complete the project, including any required public infrastructure improvements, within two years of being issued all required permits or within four years of the signing of the incentive agreement, according to the agreement.

The developer must also own and maintain stormwater management facilities exclusively serving the project. They must also spend at least $30 million on the project, including the costs of acquiring the land and construction.

"It's a good incentive," said Carter. "That property was not creating much in the way of taxes. In a few years, it's going to go from producing almost no taxes to producing a lot of taxes. It's also going to be the opposite of urban sprawl."

A construction crew works on the DeLand Commons project at 221 S. Woodland Blvd. in downtown DeLand.
A construction crew works on the DeLand Commons project at 221 S. Woodland Blvd. in downtown DeLand.

The developers bought the property last year

DeLand Commons Partners paid $950,000 to acquire the former Save-a-Lot property on Dec. 2, 2022, according to Volusia County property records. The sellers, doing business as Central Florida Investment Company LLC of DeLand, were Edith Marie Maiden and the estates of Donald Ray Maiden and William Stewart Maiden.

The entire development site is 5.2 acres, according to the incentive grant agreement. It extends from Woodland Boulevard east to South Alabama Avenue. It is bordered on the south by Ace Hardware and (behind the store) East Voorhis Avenue. On the north, it is bordered by the Artisan and (behind the hotel) two lots owned by Volusia County along the south side of East Howry Avenue, according to property records.

It's on track to be completed next year

Banners on the construction fence in front of the project site state that the anticipated completion date is first quarter 2024.

That might be overly optimistic, according to Watts. He said it's safer to say the project will be finished sometime in 2024.

Watts did not know whether any businesses have leased retail spaces yet.

The property's commercial leasing agent, Dean Price of Global Realty, did not respond to requests for comment.

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DeLand Commons: Development bringing much-needed housing to downtown