West Villages Improvement District: Village D Pattern Plan Neighborhood Meeting June 14, 2016

The room was so packed that some people who wanted to attend could not get in. Marty Black was very gracious and accommodating, and so held a SECOND session with individuals willing to wait until the room cleared from the first meeting. Both were very good and very informative.

Marty was also obliging in that people had many questions and interests in information that was actually outside of the scope of the scheduled meeting, yet he did his best to share as much information as he could. A lot of the specifics that people would like to know aren't available for various reasons, like non-disclosure agreements or plans not being complete.

An example would be about the possible stadium for the Braves. The Braves have moved forward with hiring a local architect to study designs and costs associated with locating their training facility here. Plans are not drawn up for a stadium, though, and there are actually two possible locations for a stadium within the district. If it is just the Braves, it would be a location closer to the Northeast section of the district. However, it is hoped that a second baseball team will locate here, and that would mean a larger and shared facility would be built. They have been in talks for some time with several other teams. If it is a shared facility, it would be located more toward the center of the district. And, if we get two teams, then we also get a 'grapefruit league' team, which would make for year-round entertainment at the stadium.

This neighborhood meeting was actually about the process of Village Development Pattern Plan "D." This is the section of the West Villages next to IslandWalk to the east and south of US41. Pardon my rudimentary map markup, but the fuchsia represents Coastamar, the new commercial section. This is in the permitting process, which takes about a year, but the plan is to have it open for business by Thanksgiving of 2017. The yellow on the map is to be residential, and the red is mixed residential with some multi-family building alternatives of 2 to 3 stories. A mention was made that plans for the area include some housing for the college (Much needed, I am sure. It was not mentioned in the meeting, but planned and possible expansion in programs will make additional housing of critical need to the college).

Coastamar is to resemble downtown Venice - but improved. Sidewalks are to be much wider, allowing for outdoor eating and plenty of walking, biking, and golf cart accessibility. Plus, improvements for parking are planned as well. Marty said that in planning, he is a fan of John Nolen and Frederick Law Olmsted, which really bodes well (in my mind) for the direction of the West Villages. John Nolen designed the original plans for Venice, with concepts of lifestyle and accessibility being of utmost importance. Frederick Law Olmsted was many things, particularly a landscape architect, who had a focus on functional park landscapes that were both natural and sustainable. He was a proponent of bringing forestry science to America.

As for the traffic light, if you have been reading my blogs regularly, you know that it is being evaluated for a roundabout. Marty made mention of this at the meeting. We should know the results of that evaluation at the end of the month. Marty also said that FDOT promised to have a community meeting regarding traffic control at the intersection of Corradino/Galleria and US41.

There were some other odds-and-ends brought up, but I think those are really the 'biggies' that I took away. There are some other little items that I will save for another post.

Hope that is helpful! Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Thanks for reading.

Ali

Ali H. Johnston, MHA, MBA in Real Estate

Realtor®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

Mobile: 941-539-5771

www.WestVillagesRealty.com

WVID Blogspot

Gran Paradiso Blogspot

NewHomeVenice.com

My West Villages Site

My Gran Paradiso Site

My IslandWalk Site

If you are considering purchasing a home in this community, I can assist you. My services and extensive resources are of no cost to you, and in most instances, I am even able to save home buyers money.  I do not work for any of the wonderful builders/developers in the West Villages Improvement District, or any others for that matter. My services and information (including the resources provided on all of my websites) are wholly independent of these developers. No other independent professional is more knowledgeable about this community, and enlisting me to assist with your transaction can provide you with a wealth of information as well as saving you money.

Please, check out my Venice area website, and contact me for more information.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Fastest Growing Areas of FL

http://www.bradenton.com/news/business/article78633482.html

Neighborhood Meeting on June 14, 2016

Published in The Venice Gondolier Sun - May 28, 2016
Under Miscellaneous Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE A neighborhood meeting will be held on June 14, 2016 at 6 PM at the West Villages Office Park, 19503 West Villages Parkway, Venice, FL 34293, to discuss a proposed Village District Pattern Plan (VDPP) for Village ?. The subject property for Village ? is a 626.40+ acre parcel located along the south side of South Tamiami Trail, west of West Villages Parkway, east of Islandwalk, in North Port, Florida. The purpose of the meeting is to inform the community about existing site conditions, upcoming steps in the VDPP process, and to seek their input. This is the second public workshop in a series for this project.


Publish: May 28, 2016 387098 3320807

DOT update for traffic light at communities' entrances and US41/Tamiami Trl

MAY 5, 2016 — A response has been received about the status of a traffic light...I will copy and paste email below for your review:

[Begin email insert]
From: King, Tanya
Received: May 5, 2016, 8:52am
Subject: RE: Request for Traffic Light Approval at US41 and Corradino/Galleria
To: Ali Johnston Cc: Hattaway, Billy; Hollingsworth, Lora; May, JoAnn A; Blanchard, Brian; Tillander, Trey; Nandam, L. K.; Slater, Keith 

Good morning Mr. Johnston,

A traffic study has been received and reviewed by the department with regards to the US 41 at Corradino Boulevard intersection. The intersection did meet warrants for a signal. However, it is the department’s policy that anytime there is a change in traffic control, i.e. a signal warranted at an intersection, the intersection has to be analyzed as a roundabout to determine the best control for this intersection. Per Secretary Hattaway’s previous comments to you, the modern roundabout is by far safer than a signal. They reduce fatalities by 90%, serious injuries by 76% and improve safety for all users, including pedestrians while also reducing congestion. Also roundabouts are able to handle more capacity at an intersection therefore extending the life of the corridor. At this time further analysis is being conducted for this intersection. Once the analysis is completed, I will make sure to contact you. 

In the meantime, should you need anything else, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards, 

Tanya N. King, P.E., CPM
Traffic Studies Engineer
Florida Department of Transportation 
District One MS 1-8
801 North Broadway Avenue
P.O. Box 1249 | Bartow, FL 33830
: 863.519.2509 : 863.534.0915
: tanya.king@dot.state.fl.us

[End of inserted email]


I have also replied to the email, expressing surprise at the consideration of a roundabout and asking how long to expect the further analysis will take.

Let me know if you have any questions that I can answer, or if you have any suggestions/recommendations for additional action that would help expedite this process.

Regards,
Ali Johnston

Public Notices for WVID meetings on April 12th and 26th at 11am Englewood Sports Complex

http://wvidfl.blogspot.com/2016/04/public-notice-for-west-villages-on-4616.html

Meetings at Sarasota County/Englewood Sports Complex located at 1300 S. River Rd, Englewood, FL 34223, on April 12th and April 26th at 11am.

From
http://marketplace.heraldtribune.com/publicnotices/Default.aspx?search=villages&f=2%2F8%2F2016&t=4%2F7%2F2016

New West Villages Weekly Section in the North Port Sun Newspaper Starting Wednesday

From: http://wvidfl.blogspot.com/2016/04/new-west-villages-weekly-section-in.html


My West Villages Facebook page posted/announced today: 

The first issue of the SUN's West Villages edition is out today. This will be a weekly feature. Look for it Wednesday in the Venice Gondolier.Thank you to all the wonderful people at the SUN papers.If you have ideas for articles, email them to westvillages@sun-herald.com.

https://www.facebook.com/MyWestVillages/photos/a.877153945679072.1073741828.875397199188080/1089383737789424/?type=3&theater

If you are considering purchasing a home in this community, I can assist you. My services and extensive resources are of no cost to buyers. I am even able to save home buyers money.  

I do not work for any of the wonderful builders/developers in the West Villages Improvement District, or any others for that matter. My services and information (including the resources provided on all of my websites) are wholly independent of these developers. No other independent professional is more knowledgeable about this community, and enlisting me to assist with your transaction can provide you with a wealth of information as well as saving you money.

Please, check out my Venice area website, and contact me for more information!

Look forward to hearing from you!

Ali

Ali H. Johnston, MHA, MBA in Real Estate

Realtor®, Lic. Broker #BK3284964

West Villages Realty LLC

Mobile: 941-539-5771

www.WestVillagesRealty.com

WVID Blogspot

Gran Paradiso Blogspot

NewHomeVenice.com

My West Villages Site

My Gran Paradiso Site

My IslandWalk Website

Article: Housing will have its best year in a decade

WVID blog http://wvidfl.blogspot.com/2016/04/article-housing-will-have-its-best-year.html

From http://www.freddiemac.com/finance/report/20160331_outlook_housing_will_have_its_best_year_in_a_decade.html

Housing will have its best year in a decade

March 31, 2016
© 2016 Freddie Mac


This year is shaping up to be the best year for housing in a decade.  Home sales, construction housing starts and house prices are set to reach decade-level highs. Here are several reasons why we think this will happen.

Low Mortgage Rates
At the end of 2015, interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged over 4 percent, but declined at the start of 2016 and have remained below 4 percent so far this year. Low mortgage interest rates help support homebuyer affordability in the face of rising house prices and stagnant income.

If interest rates rise rapidly, like they did in the spring of 2013, housing market activity is likely to cool significantly.  Our forecast is for mortgage interest rates to gradually rise, remaining below 4 percent for the first half of 2016, before inching higher and closing the year around 4.4 percent. On balance, the downside risks to this forecast are greater than the upside—there’s a substantial likelihood that rates could remain below 4 percent throughout 2016. The path of rates depends on global economic conditions.

Many countries have negative interest rates.  In Japan the 10-year government bond reached a record low of negative 0.1 percent in March.  Across Europe many countries’ sovereign bond yields also have negative interest rates, some on maturities out to 10 years. Exhibit 1 compares sovereign bond yields for 2-year and 10-year maturities across several advanced economies. While we think there’s little chance the U.S. will have negative rates any time soon, negative rates abroad keep the lid on long-term rates in the U.S.

We think the outlook for global growth will improve—or at least stabilize—throughout the balance of this year and the downward pressure on U.S. rates will abate.  More good news on the domestic U.S. economy, and a return to tightening by the Federal Reserve, will push rates higher later this year. The Fed is likely to only raise rates twice this year, which will slow the pace of interest rate increases.

Resilient Labor Market
The U.S. labor market has been remarkably resilient, producing an average of 205,000 net job gains per month since 2011. The steady flow of jobs has helped to bring the unemployment rate down below 5 percent. On the downside, labor force participation has fallen substantially with no sign of recovery and wage growth remains anemic.

Recent analysis from Goldman Sachs suggests that the labor force participation rate is unlikely to increase much from today’s level. According to their analysis, which accounted for demographic and other socioeconomic factors, only about 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points of the more than 3 percentage point decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 is due to cyclical factors and can be expected to reverse itself. The rest of the decline is driven by long-term factors like the aging of the population. Under this analysis, the prospects for increased labor force participation are dim.

If the labor force participation rate doesn’t increase and job gains maintain their recent pace, then pressures are going to build and wages will rise. So far wage growth has been anemic, barely keeping pace with inflation. But if you look closely at the latest data on average hourly earnings you might convince yourself that we’re at the nascent stages of a gradual increase in wages.

Wage growth ultimately will be a key factor for housing markets. If wages and incomes do not start rising, then rising interest rates, home prices and rents will squeeze households and ultimately slow housing markets.

Household formations on the rise
Given the steady job growth, household formations should start picking up. During the Great Recession household formation rates dropped and still have not picked up to match underlying population growth. Throughout the first half of 2015 the pace of formations seemed to be accelerating, reaching 2.2 million on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter of 2015. In the latter half of 2015, the pace of net household formations dropped by over 50 percent to 800,000 per year.

The drop-off in household formations could be an anomaly due to noisy data, or it could be a symptom of the lack of supply of housing. Total annual housing completions have been running below 1 million for several years, and the vacancy rates are dropping. With low levels of supply there is nowhere for households to be formed. So despite robust job gains household formations haven’t followed yet.

Housing supply increases
But there’s good news in the housing construction data. Multifamily housing starts have been solid, running above 300,000 for the past three years. But without single-family construction increasing it’s going to be hard to meet housing demand. In February 2016 single-family housing starts were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 822,000 (Exhibit 2), a substantial year-over-over percent increase, but still well below what we’ll need to meet long-run housing demand.

The recovery in single-family housing starts has been long (and tortured) despite optimism by homebuilders about the direction of the new home market. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) tracks homebuilder sentiment. A reading above 50 indicates that on net respondents maintain a positive outlook about the new home market. The HMI for March 2016 was 58, marking the 21st consecutive month above 50. However, despite the optimistic sentiment, homebuilding activity has not followed suit.  Historically the HMI and 1-unit housing starts have tracked each other closely. They still do, but the relationship has changed. If the historic relationship between sentiment and starts from 1985 to 2009 held, then single-family starts would be nearly 50 percent higher than where they are today.

One reason homebuilders have not ramped up home construction to match sentiment is a dearth of available labor. Recent analysis by the NAHB of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) pointed out that unfilled job openings for construction workers in January 2016 were the highest since July of 2007. The lack of skilled labor is one key factor holding back housing starts.

Nevertheless, housing starts are trending higher, which will bring more badly-needed new supply onto the market. We’re forecasting that combined multifamily and single-family housing starts will increase 200,000 units to 1.3 million in 2016.

House prices moving higher
With demand picking up and supply lagging, house prices are moving higher.

In 2015, house prices increased about 6 percent on a year-over-year basis. We’re forecasting house prices to continue to rise, but at a moderating pace, with annual house price appreciation slowing to 4.8 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent in 2017. We think that long-term house prices should grow around 3 percent so this forecast is consistent with a market where supply issues slowly abate.

Higher house prices will help drive up homeowners’ equity. According to a recent report by  CoreLogic , 8.53 percent of borrowers are underwater (i.e., the mortgage exceeds the value of the property used to secure the loan.  This is down from a high of 26 percent in 2009 and reflects the solid house price gains of recent years.

Higher house prices are driving down affordability.  According to analysis by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the qualifying income—the minimum gross income necessary to afford the median priced home in the U.S. with a down payment of 20 percent and the requirement that gross housing expenses not exceed 25 percent of gross income—has increased $3,400 from January 2015 to January 2016. With house prices forecasted to rise further, more and more households will face an affordability pinch.

Best year in a decade
Despite the challenges facing the housing market, we expect this to be the best year for housing in a decade. Home sales, housing starts, and house prices will reach their highest level since 2006 according to our latest forecast. Low mortgage rates and an improving labor market—including modest income gains—will help drive housing markets higher. Challenges remain, with low housing supply and declining affordability being a key concern in many markets, but on balance, the housing markets in the U.S. are poised for the best year since 2006.