The Princeton Updated 1

The Orlando City Council approved The Princeton at College Park (Facebook) apartment project today.

We’ve been telling you about The Princeton complex that is being proposed in College Park along Princeton and Smith Streets.

The developer recently made changes to come into strict compliance with the Edgewater Drive Vision Plan.

Those changes included reducing the building height in the middle so that the building goes from five stories to three stories, instead of having an area with four stories in the middle. This also reduced the number of units from 226 units to 206.

As we pointed out in our Our Take analysis, the only part of the project that did not comply with the Edgewater Drive Vision plan was the way in which the height of the building scales down as it moves into the neighborhood. The developer has modified this.

The Assistant City Attorney pointed out that if the council wanted to reject the ordinances and the decision was challenged in court they would need to articulate an argument on how the project did not comply with the current property right of the project.

The project was met with opposition from a group called Rethink the Princeton. Attorney Karen Consalo represented about two dozen residents speaking out against the project.

Consalo stated that the project did not fit within the plan, specifically calling attention to the compatibility with the neighborhood. She also pointed out that she did not believe the project was truly a mixed use project.

The developer had stated their desire to redevelop the commercial space in the future, but that the property owner wanted to wait until the leases on the exiting retail end.

The City Council amended the ordinance to require the developer to renovate the exterior of the exiting retail to match the new complex.

The Council also added a stipulation that the developer would only have two years to pull a construction permit on the project.

The project was approved 4 to 1. Commissioner Patty Sheehan was the only vote against the ordinances.

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