Wood Partners Developing 311-Unit Community in Tampa Suburb

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Land O’ Lakes, Fla.—Wood Partners is developing Alta Terra Bella, a 19-acre luxury rental community in the Tampa suburb of Land O’Lakes, Fla.

When finished, the community will offer 311 garden apartments in 14 three-story buildings in Pasco County, an area that has seen considerable capital investment in recent years.

“We pursued this site because the project was fully entitled through Pasco County. It was a quick start with little in the way of pursuit risk,” David Thompson, Wood Partners’ director, tells MHN. “We knew what we had, and we were able to get an investor interested during our due diligence period. Another developer had done a lot of the heavy lifting and we knew the consultants he had used—the architect (Charlan Brock—the architect for our Patterson Court, Alta at Lake Eve, The Ivy and The Rialto projects) and civil engineer. We also have a good relationship with the seller, PNC Bank.”

The community will include 339,301 square feet of rentable space and an 8,939-square-foot clubhouse with a community room, fitness center, kids’ playroom, Wi-Fi café and a summer kitchen overlooking the swimming pool. It will also include 633 surface parking spaces, including 76 attached and detached garage spaces available for rent.

“As the Tampa Bay area continues to experience robust employment and income growth, especially in the hospitality, financial and business services industries, Pasco County will continue to grow,” Thompson, says. “Alta Terra Bella is ideally located near top schools and provides convenient interstate access to employers throughout the Tampa area.”

The property is located less than five minutes west of I-75 and 10 minutes east of the Veterans Expressway, connecting it to the entire Tampa Bay region. Downtown Tampa is 25 minutes south via I-275, and the property is within 30 minutes of 49 million square feet of office space.

According to Thompson, the Tampa Bay MSA’s population has grown 20 percent since 2000, with the population within a five-mile radius of Alta Terra Bella exploding by 114 percent over the same period, and average household incomes are 37 percent higher.

According to the National Association of Home Builders’ formula to determine the local impact of multifamily housing in typical metro areas, adding 311 rental apartments will generate $24.5 million in local income, $2.5 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and 379 local jobs.

Construction is expected to be complete in May 2016, with leasing expected to begin in September 2015. Wood Residential Services, Wood Partners’ property-management division, will manage the property.