Teresa Sargeant
Key Points
- Gale Vista affordable housing project will return to Apopka DRC with plans reduced from 400 to 100 apartments at 2020 Old Dixie Highway.
- The proposal includes a four-story building with 100 two-bedroom apartments, 206 parking spaces, a playground, and amenity space.
- A parking variance request is under review, and Gale Vista is developed under Florida's Live Local Act to ease zoning for affordable housing.
A proposed affordable-housing development is returning to the Apopka Development Review Committee (DRC) with one-fourth of the apartments envisioned when it appeared before the board last year.
Gale Vista is scheduled for its second construction-site-plan review during the DRC’s Wednesday, Sept. 9, meeting. The latest plans call for 100 apartments at 2020 Old Dixie Highway, down from the 400 units presented to the committee in September 2025.
The agenda packet does not explain the reduction.
Southport Financial Services Inc. is listed as the developer, while the approximately 5.17-acre property is owned by the Housam Family Trust. Atwell LLC submitted the plans.
The proposal consists of a four-story building containing 100 two-bedroom apartments. Plans also show amenity space, a playground and 206 parking spaces — 14 fewer than the 220 ordinarily required.
A parking study requesting a variance from the parking requirement is under city review. The plans also note that city regulations allow the community development director, through approval of a transportation-demand-management plan, to authorize a reduction of up to 30%.
Gale Vista is proposed under Florida’s Live Local Act, which requires municipalities to allow qualifying affordable multifamily developments on land zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use without requiring certain land-use or zoning changes.
When Gale Vista first appeared before the DRC in September 2025, its development team said water and sewer capacity concerns had delayed the 400-unit project. The developer also said the project had received a $5.75 million allocation from Orange County and faced financing deadlines.
The new packet does not state whether the utility-capacity issue has been resolved or whether the county funding remains committed.
The DRC also will review a revision for Crossroads at Kelly Park Phase 3B. Plans call for 106 residential units and supporting roads, utilities and drainage facilities on approximately 23.43 acres. The larger Crossroads development includes a mixture of detached single-family and multifamily housing.
Another second-submittal review concerns amenity and park plans for the Springhaven subdivision along West Kelly Park Road, Chandler Road and Jason Dwelley Parkway. Plans show a pool and an approximately 1,806-square-foot cabana within a 1.01-acre amenity tract, along with pickleball courts, a pavilion and playground equipment in a separate 2.12-acre park tract.
The committee will also consider plans for Pave A Lot Asphalt Maintenance at 951 S. Highland Ave. The agenda describes the 0.57-acre proposal as a storage site involving grading, drainage and ground cover. Plans provide three parking spaces.
The DRC will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Apopka City Hall Commission Chambers, 120 E. Main St. The meeting is open to the public.