Hometown Habitat News

Veterans Village Relocates to Umatilla

Aerial Cottages at Waters Edge2

After a considerable period of due diligence, Habitat for Humanity of Lake-Sumter has decided to relocate its Veterans Village from Leesburg, FL to Umatilla, FL due to unsustainable project development costs for Workforce Housing for Veterans.

Habitat CEO Kent Adcock reported that a combination of increased development costs, combined with Impact Fees, have forced the affiliate to cut the size of the veteran’s project from 22 houses to 14, and to locate it to a site it has purchased in Umatilla.

Habitat has executed a purchase of The Cottages at Waters Edge, a 14 lot development in Umatilla. The main reason for the relocation is due to the high costs of infrastructure and development. Adcock says the value for the Umatilla site is considerable as it offers ‘ready to build’ lots that have pre-paid impact fees which, when combined with other development costs, amount to a total project savings of over $20,000 per house. In order to be a good steward with donor and sponsor dollars, the affiliate has elected to decrease the Villages size while at the same time reducing the cost per unit. An added benefit will be the ability to have a Veterans Park & Gardens on Lake Enola located in the Village Subdivision.

CEO Adcock praises the City of Leesburg staff and City Commission for their overwhelming support for the project. “We could not have asked for better community partners from the city of Leesburg, but in the final analysis the development costs were simply ‘outside the envelope of affordability’. We regret that Leesburg will not be the site for our project, but we want everyone to know that the Veterans Village Project will go forward on the new site in Umatilla.”

Habitat will kick off construction of the Veterans Village at The Cottages at Waters Edge on November 5th with a special community groundbreaking event at the site on Highway 19. A Bob Hope impersonator, along with the LC Swing Band will re-enact the old Bob Hope USA Show in a free community performance sponsored by Your HomeTown Habitat. Part of the event will include raising the wall on the very first home in the veteran’s village.

Related Articles:  Veterans Village Relocating to Umatilla – Daily Commercial

To learn more contact Danielle Stroud at danielle@habitatls.org.