Apartment Choice

August 25, 2008 | By Jerry W. Jackson, Sentinel Staff Writer Despite the real-estate slowdown, apartment developer Lane Florida LLC is moving forward with its Orlando-area projects. The company, launched in Orlando by Atlanta-based Lane Co. in 2006, is wrapping up work on portions of its first complex in Florida, a 384- unit development in Osceola County called Verano Apartments . Work began on Verano, located just off Exit 244 of Florida's Turnpike near Walt Disney World , in November 2007. While leasing has begun and some of the one- to three-bedroom units are occupied, work is continuing and the complex should be completed by February, according to Mike Mulhall, the company's Florida regional development partner . Mulhall said work has also begun on the company's even more ambitious downtown Orlando apartment tower , called The Montage. The 19-story high-rise is being built on Lake Avenue a block from Lake Eola. "The apartment market remains strong , and we have t...

Illinois-based multifamily developer  Banner Real Estate Group  has the initial support of city staff for its proposed 13-story mixed-use apartment building planned in Downtown Orlando, but has also been put on notice that key design elements must change in the coming months.  Conceptual plans and new renderings for the 13- story building will go before Orlando's Appearance Review Board on Thursday for a courtesy review.  That's being done by the developer, civil engineer  Kimley-Horn  and architect  Baker Barrios  to get valuable early feedback from the ARB and staff on their design, before an eventual Master Plan filing . Banner will have to submit again for a formal ARB review and approval, prior to submitting for building permits.  Banner Real Estate project aerial map" class="trb_em_ic_img" title=" Banner Real Estate project aerial map" src="src" /> This would be Banner's entry to the Central Florida market , with a propo...

Orlando will soon have a new community down near Disney — the Four Seasons Private Residences — where home prices start around $5 million. Bully for all our new neighbors ... and the $24,514 in homeowner’s association fees they’ll pay each year. Ironically, though, many of the people who already live here — the ones who work full-time in the tourist industry that attracts the Four Seasons folks — can’t afford homes of their own. Heck, they can’t even cover the HOA dues. Central Florida , you see, is in the midst of an all-out housing crisis . Our affordable- housing shortage is so severe that the National Low Income Housing Coalition recently found just 18 rental units available for every 100 low- income families — one of the lowest rates in America. As a result, we have families living in cheap motels and relying on government subsidies. And with rents rising, it’s only getting worse. This isn’t exactly the kind of thing our chambers of commerce or visitors bureaus like to promo...

Women’s soccer fans who follow only the U.S. national team might not have heard of Maddy Evans, unless they knew of her when she was growing up in the Philadelphia region . But Evans’ name is very much one worth knowing, because her story says a lot about the present and future of the sport in this country. A 26-year-old product of Abington High and Penn State, Evans retired from playing last week after a five- year pro career . Among the reasons: She couldn’t earn enough money in the job to sustain a living. Evans’ salary this season with the Orlando Pride of the National Women ’s Soccer League was set to be approximately $16,000, just above the league minimum of $15,000. In previous seasons — with the Boston Breakers from 2013 to 2015 and the Pride after that — she received half that sum or less. Players are paid only during the time of year when teams are on the field. It’s a far cry from the glamorous lives led by the globa...

Call it affordable. Call it cheap. The fact is that those people renting apartments in Columbus enjoy some of the least expensive rates in the United States, according to Apartment List , a listing website that tracks the industry. August data show that Columbus, out of 100 markets nationwide, has the fifth- lowest median lease rates , with a one-bedroom averaging $640 a month and a two-bedroom going for $760 monthly. The lowest — or cheapest — rents on the list are in Wichita, Kan., with $560 for a one-bedroom unit and $750 for two bedrooms. It is followed by Fayetteville, N.C., Fort Wayne, Ind., Toledo, Ohio, and Columbus. Rounding out the Top 10 most affordable cities in terms of apartment rents are Huntsville, Ala., Winston-Salem, N.C., Cleveland, Ohio, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Des Moines, Iowa. Other Southeastern cities on the list and their affordability rankings are Montgomery, Ala. (15), Knoxville, Tenn. (31), Birmingham, Ala. (34), Tallahassee, Fla. (42), Jacksonville, F...